Advice on Nikon 8x40 Action?

I'm an astronomy newbie and looking for a pair of entry level binoculars.

I recently went to a star party and was surprised at how much I could
see from a fellow attendee's 8x40 binoculars. Don't know why I didn't
ask him the brand but I didn't.

After much research, I keep coming back to the Nikon 8x40 Action
binoculars. They seem to get good reviews from the birding crowd. Some
say they compare to binoculars twice the price.

I live in the mountains of NC and have very dark skies to the west. I'm
also 54 years old.

Anyone out there in astronomy land ever tried these and have an opinion?

Thanks in advance.

~krb
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