Binocular Basics

A good pair of binoculars gives you grab-and-go convenience on nights when you don’t have much time to observe. Binoculars give you an expansive view of the sky, let you see in “3D” with both eyes, and cost far less than a telescope. Even a modest pair lets you see as many as 100,000 stars, hundreds of star clusters and nebula, supernovae remnants, and dozens of galaxies.
Some find the features and specifications of binoculars a little confusing. So here are the basics you need to know to understand and use a decent pair.
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All binoculars are marked with two key numbers, magnification and aperture. A pair marked “7×50″, for example, magnifies 7 times and has objective lenses 50 mm in diameter. Bigger lenses let you see dimmer objects.
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