http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/2008/11/21/q-amp-a-with-stephen-j-o-meara-about-his-new-binocular-book.aspxThis month, Cambridge University Press published Astronomy columnist Stephen James O’Meara ’s latest book for stargazers, Observing the Night Sky with Binoculars . The book — billed as “a simple guide to the heavens” — is for beginners. This is a newenCommunityServer 2007 SP2 (Build: 20611.960)http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/2008/11/21/q-amp-a-with-stephen-j-o-meara-about-his-new-binocular-book.aspx#397482Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:55:58 GMT5cad643e-09e9-4c3f-b1be-205e244b4f67:397482Antitax<p>In 1990, I started backwards and bought a 50mm telescope before buying binoculars. The toyish scope proved poorly built except for the objective lens, which was surprisingly well made but not collimated. Finding out that the eyepiece lenses were plastic shocked me. This disappointment and others about the mount and focuser convinced me to acquire good 10x50 binoculars that costed exactly the same price but &quot;shot down&quot; all the targets easily. A few years later I got an all-metal, superbly crafted Celestron 5+ that I still own. About five years ago I upgraded to Fujinon 16x70 and restarted binoviewing with delightful power. Stargazing without them seems inconceivable to me, even when I use large scopes at star parties.</p> <img src="http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=397482" width="1" height="1">