Careful Tim! YOu're just on the edge of the gravitational attraction of a large black hole called "astrophotography"
The humble toUcam webcam is fantastic value and hard to beat. There's a thread going on a UK dealer selling them cheap along with 1.25" adaptors currently. Or you could buy new from an Aus dealer (or try 2nd hand off IIS).
You will definitely get better results without the webcam lens, but you do need a fast and sensitive webcam (or other fast camera - Imaging Source or Flea 3, etc).
An IR/UV filter is handy for better clarity, but decent camera is first step.
If you've got some sort of movie camera already might be worth shooting some AVI and stacking in something like Registax (freeware).