Binoculars or field glasses are two telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars can be held using both hands, although sizes vary widely from opera glasses to a large pedestal mounted military models.

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According to Space, a person's first telescope can tilt one's eyes to the sky in a somewhat permanent fashion, if anecdotal evidence has any standing. Over the years, many other amateur astronomers have said their interest in the sky can be traced back to receiving their first telescope over the holidays.

The Large Binocular Telescope contributes important technology to the #GMT @LBTObs Photo Credit: @jfanson pic.twitter.com/36LDGcR0ub

— Giant Magellan (@GMTelescope) March 8, 2016

Telescopes require knowledge, patience, and a major investment, so you do not want to get ahead of yourself. Instead, get a pair of binoculars first. A good pair of binoculars will let you see a lot more than you might expect, including Jupiter and its moons and even faraway places like the Orion Nebula and distant galaxies, Popular Mechanics reported. Not only are binoculars considerably cheaper than a decent telescope, but you can use them for another hobby like birding, or other outdoor sporting activities.

#Asteroid #Vesta (mag. +6.6) is 0.5 deg north of kappa Gem (mag. +3.6).Visible together with #binoculars --> https://t.co/L3xWf9tzKC pic.twitter.com/F8JK9ckOQ3 — freestarcharts (@freestarcharts) February 1, 2017

It is true that many others have had their initial enthusiasm for astronomy severely dampened by their first telescope especially if the pleasure-to-frustration ratio becomes too low.