[alwaysinshade]

> I'd recommend getting a basic pair of binoculars and doing some backyard astronomy

If you've got the spare cash, get image stabilized ones. I could clearly see the moons around Jupiter with my Canon 12x36 IS binos the other night despite my hand tremors. The real party trick is handing them to a friend and telling them to look at the moon. Blows them away every time - to most people it's just a yellowish glowing thing in the sky, rather than a scarred rocky globe.