Powerful binoculars for astronomy - Oberwerk 12x60mm Binoculars

I got the Oberwerk binoculars for casual astronomical viewing at low power, and they completely meet my needs. They are not field glasses - I can't use them without a mount. I use the Orion Paragon Plus parallelogram-style mount on a tripod, which may be more than you need, but you will need something, if only a $15 adapter on your video tripod. The real benefit of using binoculars like these is that you can simply point them at your target and start observing. Their chief merit is not magnification, but light gathering, so you will simply see things that "weren't there" to your naked eye. For example, Jupiter's 4 Galilean moons are clearly visible, though the planet's detail is not. In my first few hours of use, I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of satellites steadily crossing my field of view - something far less likely with the more narrow view of a higher-powered telescope.
Pros: Wide field of view, good light gathering
Cons: Too powerful for hand-held use

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.