Get a grip! Even large binoculars like these 14x70's can be effectively handheld -- that is, used without the benefit of a tripod -- if you know how. Hold them out near the objective lenses (as Mom demonstrates) instead of back where habit might dictate. Using a tripod helps you see detail and helps you see fainter objects, but your two hands make a very nice universal telescope mount for sweeping the Milky Way and for casual admiration of the earthlit moon. (I also saw Nolan Ryan thrown out of a ballgame in Arlington, Texas, through these. I was in Biloxi at the time. No, I wasn't, but I was in the right field cheap seats. I could probably have read his lips if I knew those sorts of words.)

What size binoculars are good for astronomy?