[synthguy2 (Malcolm)]

Hi, I'm planning to update my astronomy gear for astro-imaging in 2021. I'm looking at the Celestron Nexstar Evolution 8 HD as my main scope, because it has integrated wifi, and I can easily connect to it with my iPad or iPhone, or a Macbook Air, either running Skyportal or Sky Safari Pro 6. I like the idea of minimising cable clutter as a result and definitely want a quick and easy setup.

In terms of astro-imaging I thought I'd look at DSLR (I have a Nikon D3100) to start with, but then look at a CCD imager once I'd become familiar with the scope. So my question is whether there is astronomy software for running on a Mac OS laptop that can control a CCD camera via wifi? If I can control the pointing and slewing of a telescope via wifi, can I also manage astro-imaging? Or, do I need a physical cable connection to the CCD camera from the computer?

The reason I'm asking is that on really cold nights I'd still like to be able to do astro-imaging from inside, using my computer, rather than being outside? So a wifi based astro-imaging software option would be ideal?

thanks,

Malcolm, Canberra.