I've been into Astronomy for a couple years now. However, I always find myself reading the articles people publish every now and then about how to get started in Astronomy. I'm not sure why but I guess I really like remembering my roots, why I fell in love with this hobby in the first place. Reading these articles always spark that excitement back in me! Or maybe I always read them because I'm hoping to find some simple thing to fuel the Astrofire back in me.

In these "How to start in Astronomy" articles the authors will almost always recommend people start out with a pair of binoculars because of their convience and intuitive nature. It always sounded like a good idea, but I knew that I really wanted a telescope so I skipped the binocs.

Well, tonight Jessica and I ended up going to a benefit dinner in Appleton, WI. We placed some bids on some items and won the Bushnell PowerView 12 x 50mm Binoculars (13-1250C)! Got them for a what I consider a pretty good price too! $41.00. I was excited to get home to see what everyone had been raving about.

When I got home I unpacked the binoculars and ran outside to put these babies to the test. I was really curious to see how well DSO (Deep Space Objects) would show up if at all. So I targeted right on the Orion Nebula (M42), of course, and sure enough there she was! Even though I'm in the city. There she was! She wasn't as bright as when I use my 8" Dobsonian, but there was no mistaken there was a nebula in my field of view! Beautiful!

I think my binoculars and I are going to have many years of stargazing ahead of us. The convienence is a HUGE plus! If I want to go camping and I don't have enough room or I just simply don't want to haul my big ol' telecsope out I really think that my binoculars will be a great alternative.

For those that want to know how to find The Orion Nebula (M42) here's a quick picture. The nebula sits in the constellation of Orion right on what appears to be the middle star of Orion's sword.