Snowy,
I bought a pair of 11 x 70 Aoe binoculars,
www.aoe.com.au , and have found them to suit my needs perfectly. They gather a great deal more light then your average 7 x 50 binos and as such you get a much 'clearer' look at the night sky. They really do require a tripod, mines on an old camera tripod, but they can be hand held for short periods before the shakes set in.
I didn't go for the 15 x 70 binos, which were the same price at $149, because I wanted a larger field of view. Anything larger then these would definitely need a sturdy tripod as my camera tripod only just does the job on my 11 x 70's. Hope this helps.