It may be related to cheap binoculars. In my opinion a good pair of binocs is a good investment and a good quality pair can be less money than high end eye-pieces.
Last night I was trying to catch views of Praesepe with some binoculars.
The moon was near the field of view. When viewing, I started getting strange reflections from the moon in my view. Waiting 30 minutes for the moon to move fixed the problem. Did I see strange optical reflections of the moon because I have low end binoculars, or because any optical system is prone to this problem? Is waiting for the moon to get out of the way the only solution? In photography I'm familiar with the idea of a lens flare, but this seemed much more pronounced than just a loss of contrast. It was a distorted image of the moon in the side of the area of view.
Please let me know if asking so many beginner questions is a problem for the group. If there is a better forum or method for me to seek understanding I will gladly do it. I don't want to waste everyone's time asking questions like this. Besides, it is quite intimidating. Does SLAS have a mentoring program?
-Ryan
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