Sunshine

Very pretty halo around the moon last night, guessing it’s caused by refraction of light through ice crystals in atmosphere. It is a cold winter night here and hazy high up.

A nice looking, clean setup you have there, paulastro.

Welcome to SGL! 

What a fine image it is!

Every bit mentioned above is correct, you need an equatorial tracking mount, at least EQ5 and that scope mentioned by vlaiv would make for a good AP optical tube.

Second option please, ill get a whole load of gear, sell off most for cash then vacation where i want, a win win in my eyes.

Who needs 250 thousand pounds of scope? i could barely manage mine and it weights 65...🤣🤣🤣

Wonderful image!

Love the shots, you say you’re using a Coronado double stack on your Lunt? that’s encouraging as they are less expensive than Lunt double stack units. Soon I will pull trigger on a Lunt 60, I guess a Coronado double stack would be ideal, any suggestions or drawbacks to this setup? Thanks.

Getting eyepieces centered without phone mount is like pulling teeth, nice capture!

5 minutes ago, Becksh93 said:

Thank you for replying! 
that does all make a lot of sense! 

I do have that little rubber bit around the eyepiece but it’s not half as raised as yours! I think it probably will just take a bit of getting used to & learning to be more steady on my feet whilst using it! 

Depending on the eyepiece sometimes the eyecup needs to be flipped up as they are folded down, have a look and see if that is the case.

Hello and welcome to SGL! 

Congrats on the scope, the issue you describe is very common and referred to as a "blackout" especially with beginners who are not yet used to using eyepieces. Don't worry, imagine looking through a straw, your eye has to be in the right spot to see through it, same with an eyepiece. Try approaching your eyepiece directly from above it and slowly get closer until you can see the full field of view, a clear circle. Looking into an eyepiece is not about placing your eye to the eyepiece and moving side to side but, its all about lowering your eye onto the eyepiece from above then stopping once you can see the full field of view.

When light comes out of the top of the eyepiece it comes to a focus at a certain distance above the eyepiece, this distance is referred to as eye relief. Different eyepieces focus light at different distances above the eyepiece  which means in one eyepiece you'll notice your eye may need to be a little closer or further than another. Does your eyepiece have an eyecup? a rubber ring around the edge which your eye can fit to and rest on? this should help keep your eye centred over the eyepiece if so. Be patient and move slowly toward the eyepiece from above and maintain that position once you see the full circle and you'll catch on quickly, there are instances where particular eyepiece/telescope combinations make it more difficult in which case i'm sure someone else will weigh in and help but for now give it another try. Once again, congratulations on the scope, maybe include a couple of images of your eyepieces and enjoy the scope.

You've come to the right place for help, this is just a minor issue, don't let it discourage you, we hope to hear about your experiences in the future. 

1 hour ago, richard ashbee said:

been waiting 3 months for my scope

Boy I hate waiting for scopes, my child like enthusiasm never faded when it comes to scopes.

Same here in Canada, my local telescope shop said they have over a hundred thousand dollars worth of orders waiting to be shipped. Called several other scope shops and they say their showrooms usually loaded with used scopes are bare and orders are through the roof. It makes me wonder about the used market after Covid, there will be so many people who bought telescopes on impulse which will end up on the market once everyone is back to their daily routine. Save for us few dedicated amateurs, there are certainly many who have taken up the hobby out of boredom which they’ll forget about post Covid. That being said, if the issue is a supply chain shortage mostly then maybe there areas many new amateur astronomers as I think and it’s just a replenishment issue at store level.

2 hours ago, PXR-5 said:

That's amazing!!!

Looks like you have big money invested in AP gear!!

Love it!!

 

Thanks for sharing 🙂

Yes, my legendary AP gear consists of an iPhone 6S and for planetary I use a Celestron Neximage5. 
no autographs please.

Believe it, this image I took a few years ago through my PST with my phone to the eyepiece zoomed in then cropped in on top of that. I guessed earth scale, regardless, it’s a clear prom and a cell phone shot at that so score one for the PST, the little solar scope that could, I referred to it as. If this doesn’t get you charged up about your pst then you’re made of wood lol.

The PST was my first HA scope, loved it, be gentle with the focusser as it is totally alien to what you may be used to in scopes. It is a small thumbscrew which you turn, I haven’t broken mine but it’s one of those things that leave you apprehensive about over torquing once you feel it. 

Welcome! i too am purely a visual guy but, I'm sure you'll have your answer soon.

HELLO!! any astrophotographers here?...here...here...here

anytime soon my friend.

Imagine how many clouds would come included with that unboxing!

Why the question marks? we hope you'll head out again the next time you have some clear skies. Clouds are the thorn in the side of every one us poor saps who sometimes setup

our gear under clear skies only to be clouded over minutes later. Join the club my friend, it wont be the last time.

Amazing! great first outing with that scope, enjoy it, funny to hear your kids were "screaming their heads off" lol 

A beautiful image, colors are just perfect, that’s a pic for a frame.

Welcome! I would say you made a great choice of scope, you’ve obviously done your research here on SGL. My advice to you would be that you don’t get too caught up in worrying about the next bigger scope. Enjoy what you have, it will provide years of fun, it won’t be your last but it is a great scope which will carry you for a long time.

have fun and clear skies!

Love the airplane flyby image! ✈️🪐

WOW! that is a smashing image, contrast is beautiful.

Welcome to SGL, keep us up to date on your build, have a great time!