I do it as a fun thing. Wouldn't do it otherwise. Been doing it for years. Here's my routine . . . .
Weather permitting, I take an evening stroll around the neighborhood no earlier than 90 minutes after sunset (the end of twilight), when the darkness of night begins in earnest. I start by heading up to the mailbox to get the day's mail. But I never do so without first hanging 7x50 binoculars around my neck. The bigger, tripod mounted 12x80's go into the back of the pickup truck as I head out. I may just need them later and I don't want to destroy my night vision by going back into the house.
On the way, I look first for things like aurora and meteors and satellites and planets as I wander around getting my bearings among the major stars of various constellations. It is always surprising how much the sky's appearance can change after a spell of bad weather. Invariably, I soon find myself looking through the 7x50s at something that has caught my attention.
Last night (12/04/02) for instance, I was barely out of the house when I began scanning the Hyades (one of my favorite clusters), looking specifically for the cluster NGC 1647, a difficult cluster in the thick of Taurus. It is currently arising to its best annual position (culmination). I have never seen it in 7x50s but one of these nights it will be visible (I think). It wasn't. I soon drifted higher to the gorgeous Pleiades, and subsequently found myself looking straight up for the wispy M33 galaxy. It wasn't there either. But no one ever knows when it will be there and it blows your socks off when you spot it, especially with the naked eye. Then I swung over to NGC 752, an open cluster I've rarely seen despite looking for it for years -- and there it was! Big, bold, and clearly evident in my 7x50s. The thing is very, very large -- nearly twice the size of a full moon -- a gauzy haze of stars. I had found my target for the evening. I hurried on now to pick up the mail and get back to the 12x80s awaiting in the truck.
The cluster was just beautiful in the 12x80s and I gave serious thought to dragging the wide-field 80mm refractor out of the house but I was shivering by then. The wind chill factor, it turned out, was a nippy -5F. Too cold to hang out there while a scope cooled down. I'd had enough and went in.
Although short, the excursion was fruitful. Now I know that NGC 752 can indeed be seen in 7x50s. And the next time it shows up, I will drag out that wide-field telescope and really get into it.
Every session is fruitful, even the ones where you run into a neighbor who wants to hang by the dumpster, talk astronomy, and look through your binoculars. One thing always leads to another and you quickly compile a long mental list of "must see" things. As a result, you'll find yourself looking for these things as soon as you go out there. Try it. You'll see. But beware. It's brutally addictive.