Stargazing binoculars never get enough credit. They may not have as much light gathering ability and magnification as telescopes do, but binoculars have definite advantages.

For one thing, if you're interested in stargazing but not sure you want to invest money in a telescope quite yet, start with binoculars. Make them your "first telescope." For the most part, binoculars are less expensive than telescopes and are much easier to use. There's little or no setup time, and you can easily bring them with you anywhere you go. They certainly don't take up as much space as telescopes.

Optically, the best thing binoculars have going for them is that they offer a much larger field of view. That allows you to see a more significant chunk of the night sky at one time than is possible with most telescopes. That can really help when you're trying to get to know your way around constellations and find celestial treasures within them.

There are also astronomical targets that are seen better with binoculars, especially gorgeous star clusters.

Many of these clusters take up such large areas of the sky that there's no way you can fit them into the field of view of a telescope. A good example is the beautiful Pleiades star cluster, presently shining away in the early evening southern sky. I'll list some other great celestial treasures for binoculars at the end of this column.

When purchasing binoculars, two sets of numbers tell you about their ability. The first number is the magnification power, which means how many times closer an object will appear. The other number is the diameter in millimeters of the objective lenses, where light enters your binoculars. The larger the diameter, the more light that gets gathered into your binoculars, making for better resolution and more extensive field width. That's how much of the sky you can see at one time.

For example, a decent pair of starter binoculars would be 7x35's. That means seven power magnification and the diameters of the objective lenses are 35mm. You could make good use of them and have a lot of fun. You could get a pair of 10x50's for more money, which will give you better performance, but they'll be heavier and more burdensome.

I think 7x35's are a better way to go for your first pair of binoculars because you can hold them more steadily without the arm strain of larger ones. Larger and more expensive binoculars demand that you mount them on a tripod unless you're Charles Atlas.

As far as where to purchase them and what brand to choose, that's ultimately up to you. I don't consider myself an expert on binoculars, but I know some people who are. My go-to place for telescopes, binoculars, accessories, and great advice is Starizona, located in Tucson, Ariz. They have a great website at starizona.com.

Here are some recommendations from Starizona:

1. For beginners, a nice, very inexpensive pair is the Meade TravelView 7x50's for $34.95. They have a wide field and are comfortable and lightweight, and are surprisingly good for the price.

2. A good step up is the Orion Scenix 7x50's for $99.99, same size as the Meade TravelView but better quality, better coatings and glass, and more ruggedly built.

3. The biggest pair still hand-holdable is probably the Celestron SkyMaster DX 9x63 at $249.95. The quality is excellent, and you get a little power boost over the 7x50 while keeping the same brightness.

4. Anything higher than 10 power needs to be on a tripod, so if someone wants big binoculars that they don't mind putting on a tripod, the Orion GiantView ED 20x80 is quite good. It has extra-low dispersion (ED) glass for sharp images. Objects like the Pleiades are fantastic in binoculars like these!

Here are some great celestial treasures you can see with binoculars. Many of the star clusters and nebula are known by their nicknames, but formally they're known by catalog numbers. Two of the most used catalogs are the Messier catalog M numbers and the New General Catalog NGC numbers.

1. The moon. You can spend hours and hours perusing the mountains, craters, valleys and more. The terminator — the changing line that separates the sunlit part from the darker part of the moon's disk — is especially fun to check out with all of the shadows.

2. The planets. See the phases of Venus and Mercury, the moons around Jupiter and much more.

3. M45, The Pleiades Star Cluster. This is an open cluster of hundreds of relatively young stars about 100 million years old in the constellation Taurus. It resembles a miniature Big Dipper. It's over 400 light-years away.

4. M42, The Orion Nebula. It's a giant emission nebula of excited hydrogen gas lit up like a fluorescent light by new stars forming within it. The Orion Nebula stretches over 40 light-years across and is over 1,500 light-years away. It's wonderful!

5. NGC 884 and 869, The Perseus Double Cluster. This is an absolutely gorgeous twin cluster of young stars less than 20 million years old in the constellation Perseus. Both clusters are about 7,000 light-years away.

6. M35. Another wonderful open cluster of relatively new stars in the constellation Gemini. It's more than 2,800 light-years away and about 12 light-years in diameter.

7. M44, The Beehive Cluster. Yet another beautiful open star cluster in the faint constellation Cancer. It's similar in size in our skies to the Pleiades but not as bright. The Beehive is about 25 light-years in diameter and is about 600 light-years away.

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Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of "Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations," published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.