Abstract: A tripod attachment assembly for attaching to a pair of binoculars, the tripod attachment comprising a support assembly; a coupling assembly releasably coupleable to the support assembly, for coupling the binoculars to the support assembly; and a locking assembly for releasably locking the coupling assembly to the support assembly. In the preferred embodiment, the coupling assembly is magnetically coupleable to the support assembly.

Abstract: A tripod attachment assembly for attaching to a pair of binoculars, the tripod attachment comprising a support assembly; a coupling assembly releasably coupleable to the support assembly, for coupling the binoculars to the support assembly; and a locking assembly for releasably locking the coupling assembly to the support assembly. In the preferred embodiment, the coupling assembly is magnetically coupleable to the support assembly.

Abstract: A tripod/telescope assembly including a tripod structure and optical tube-fork-base structure removably connected to one another by a conical central opening formed in an upper structure of the tripod and a complementary conical structure extending from a lower portion of the optical tube-fork-base. The tripod has three equally spaced legs pivotally extending downward from the upper structure of the tripod head. The tripod structure and optical tube-fork-base structure are disassembled and reassembled by a hand knob that has a central threaded fastening shaft extending through the complementary conical structures. The hand knob and complementary conical structures establish a stable, rotatable platform and allow the tube-fork-base structure of the telescope to be quickly separable from the tripod structure for transportation purposes.

Abstract: A mounting and tracking system for telescopes receives date, time, and geographical position data and, in response, automatically selects and points the telescope to a first alignment star. The user completes the exact centering of the first alignment star. Based on the date, time, and geographical position data, the telescope automatically selects and points to a second alignment star. After the user completes the exact centering of the second alignment star the system automatically points to and tracks any of a large number of celestial bodies.