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There is no one telescope that does it all and if you stay with the hobby you will more than likely find yourself either owning at one time or holding on to multiple telescopes, each better suited for a particular application. You will also realise in time that the most astrophotography targets can be captured with a visual setup but best results are achieved with a dedicated astrophotography setup and the most vital component of the latter is the mount.
In answer to your questions.
1. A GOTO system whether EQ or Alt-Az will track planets smoothly for photography or what is more common now, video capture of multiple frames which are then stacked. Planets are bright and the field rotation of an Alt-Az mount is not going to cause you any significant issues.
2. If your 70mm refractor is under 3kg and of short design it will be an ideal pair for the LX65 with 6” Mak-CAS. You will get wide field low power and narrow field high power simultaneously. A long tube 70mm may foul the mount when turned up so it depends on the focal length of your 70mm refractor.
3. Yes and No. Yes in that a GOTO to system once probably aligned will find your target and then keep it centred until you are ready to move to the next target. No in that if you do not align properly to start with, your GOTO will not be pointing in the right direction when it tells you it is on target. Note having a short wide field operating in parallel will mean the target may be spotted (if bright enough) in the smaller ‘scope first and then you simply centre the target using the hand controller buttons to move your telescope in the correct direction. Note GOTO includes tracking and ability to move from target to target. GOTO is available to an EQ or Alt-Az mount. You can get tracking only on an EQ mount equipped with a motor on the RA axis which will keep the target centred if your mount is properly polar aligned; (for visual this alignment takes almost no time even for portable setups). GOTO alignment takes a little longer to get spot on and to avoid frustration. (The target could be just outside of field but you don’t know this because you have no other reference).
4. Yes. You have a 4.5x increase in brightness. This is significant. Magnification increase with suitable eyepiece is also significant. Note the 6” Mak-CAS is 150mm f12 with 1800mm focal length, not 150mm f10 with 1900mm focal length (doesn’t make sense!) as reported by one local vendor.
5. I would recommend visiting a store that has a showroom and knowledgeable staff such as Bintel if you are in the Sydney area at any time soon. (Difficult with Covid). I’m not familiar with the vendors in VIC or any other state. On this (or any other forum) you may get 10 different suggestions from 10 different people.
Personally I am a visual observer and even though I have suitable mounts and suitable telescopes for astrophotography, I just don’t want to spend my time under the stars doing that. As for GOTO I look at that as a GPS for the car. If I know where I’m going and know how to get ther I don’t bother with a GPS. Even if I’m not sure I follow a map or follow my nose. I find it more enjoyable that just arriving at the destination not knowing how I got there. This holds more true for the stars and over time I remember the location of my favourite targets and test myself each season when they come around again. Each individual is different and many cannot live without their GOTO and enjoy that just as much. I prefer printed charts and the stars above.
Another alternative is PUSH-TO which shows where your telescope is pointed on a moving map display on an iPad or phone using an app. This works well especially in the daytime as I found a couple of times now Sirius, Rigel, Jupiter using the Sun and Venus as a two star alignment. (Being careful not to expose any optics when pointing at the Sun nor look through at the time). Note this is normally a custom built setup of various components as most manufacturers only offer GOTO.
The LX65 looks a very capable setup for what you want to do being relatively portable. You mention the 6” Mak-CAS but it is also available as a 6” ACF SCT. Not sure it’s worth the price difference and if contemplating the ACF then I would look at the 8” version or another 8” SCT for a bit more aperture on DSOs which need as much light as they can get.
I’m not a big fan of full electronic telescopes for once the battery is dead (or worse if electronics fail) you then have no manual override. A simple Newtonian on an EQ mount (if you want tracking) would be preferable. I started with (and still have) a 6” f5.5 on a German Equatorial Mount. The only downside is that the eyepiece can get to awkward angles but there are ways around this. A Dob can be more convenient in this regard but if small can mean bending over all the time to view anything.
If and when astronomy clubs offer star parties again (covid free times) the I recommend going to as many as you can and looking through as many telescopes (and eyepieces) as you can to get a feel for what each can and cannot do and what you like or do not like.
Whatever you choose, enjoy!
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