Telescope Reviews: First light... ever!

Well I haven't got my scope yet but I did go out today and buy a pair of Nikon action ex 10x50 binoculars and tested them out tonight. This was my first time under the skies trying to find stuff on my own. I have a pair of 7x25 compact binoculars that are really lightweight and obviously not meant for astronomy but I compared them to the 10x50s anyways. Before I get to the astronomy I'd like to note what a huge difference I see between the two during terrestrial observing. The wider space between the objectives give excellent depth perception on the Nikons and the brightness level of the 10x50s was just so much more than with the 7x25s. When it finally got dark (It took forever!) I observed the moon for awhile which was really cool, but bright! I could see a little purple fringe on one side and a little yellow fringe on the other side but other than that, color was good. I then looked at Jupiter and could easily see 4 moons which blew me away! (I know, I know I'm easily amused) I also looked at a few other stars and such but what really frustrated me was trying to find stuff with the star charts. I blame this more on the full moon as the brightness of it was washing out everything, also I am in a yellow zone. I looked for Andromeda for half an hour before I gave up. Is it usually this hard trying to find brighter Messier objects under a yellow zone and an almost full moon? Either way I'm going to an observing night next weekend so I should get some guidance there but other than Jupiter and a list of stars I couldn't find anything I was looking for.

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C8-SGT
Nikon 10x50 Action Ex
Canon 350D
Manfrotto tripod
Various EPs and accesories

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