Binoculars vs. Telescope

Main Difference

The main difference between Binoculars and Telescope is that the Binoculars is a pair of telescopes mounted side-by-side and Telescope is a instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects

• Binoculars

  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 are sized to be held using both hands, although sizes vary widely from opera glasses to large pedestal mounted military models.

  Unlike a (monocular) telescope, binoculars give users a three-dimensional (3D) image: for nearer objects the two views, presented to each of the viewer’s eyes from slightly different viewpoints, produce a merged view with an impression of depth.

• Telescope

  A telescope is an optical instrument that makes distant objects appear magnified by using an arrangement of lenses or curved mirrors and lenses, or various devices used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. The first known practical telescopes were refracting telescopes invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century, by using glass lenses. They were used for both terrestrial applications and astronomy.

  The reflecting telescope, which uses mirrors to collect and focus light, was invented within a few decades of the first refracting telescope. In the 20th century, many new types of telescopes were invented, including radio telescopes in the 1930s and infrared telescopes in the 1960s. The word telescope now refers to a wide range of instruments capable of detecting different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, and in some cases other types of detectors.