Steve, what Peter said,
Video astronomy is a fantastic way to enjoy this hobby if you have some type of visual or movement difficulty. It gives an immediate result. The sensitivity of the CCD, along with the automatic stacking of shots means that the image of a DSO is brighter than seen through the eyepiece of the scope being used. Like I've said before, you actually see colour in M42 & Eta Carina nebulae using an 8" scope.
After having taken my little converted webcam coupled to my C5 to the children's hospice Bear Cottage, I've been convinced of the potential & legitimacy of webcams & Astro video cameras as tools for not only teaching, but for personal use. Those kids at the hospice had no chance at all of looking into an eyepiece. They were all very restricted in their movements & all confined to wheelchairs. The web cam & little C5 rendered my 17.5" totally useless that night!!!! The big scope just became dead weight,
