Thanks for posting the story and images omaroo. That gear hits a soft spot with me also, having worked for a short while as a commercial film underwater and terrestrial photographer in the mid-late 90's with Nikon F series gear.
Sorry, i can not give you much usueful info regarding WF astro shoots with the Nikon body via lenses, only to just experiment and to pick up good qaulity nikon low focal length mak lenses whenever possible if afocal is your thing.
