[dulwich.hill (James)]

Hi Everyone,

My son and I are thinking of trying some astrophotography. We are looking to do something basic so that other family members can see why we spend hours at night in the backyard as soon as the stars are out!

My question is: if we had a budget of $500, what camera and accessories should we buy to get into this hobby?

The moon and planets would be our first targets, followed by bright nebulae like Orion. A galaxy would be an added bonus (but too faint?). Would love to get a good shot of 47 tuc too and have it as a screen-saver!

Should we look at a Webcam, DSLR or a CCD?

We could spend more on a DLSR as it can double as a regular camera (we don't have to "mod" it do we?)

Our current setup is as follows:

* Skywatcher 6" F8 achromat refractor
* Celestron CGEM mount (same carrying capacity as an EQ6 - 40lbs)
* 5mm, 8mm, 17mm, 24mm Baader Hyperion eyepieces (these are threaded for DLSRs already)
* Moonlite 2" Crayford focuser (manual)

Celestron sell the Neximage package for $99 USD at optcorp.com. Sounds very cheap? Most other colour CCDs start at $400 USD. What level of quality/performance do we actually need?

Many thanks,

James