Ad Astra Observatory

Art Morton wrote:
> I do love the amazing lack of blooms. I hear the Orion color camera
> calling me.
>
> I just have to find out some way to get that without going through the

> regulated SEC Commission. How did Bernie do that?
Getting it budgeted is easy: Sell the ST-8 for a huge profit first, then
buy the Orion cam with the proceeds.

ST-8s classically go for ~$2k without the filter wheel. CFW8s go for
another $700-$1k if sold separately. If you pull the filters, you can
sell those separately for $200 I think (for SBIG ones).

This idea comes with risk: if you hate the new cam, you have to dump it

and buy a different one. Also, you don’t have the safety net of a
familiar camera to fall back on. However, you have been bitching about
blooms for over a year now, so it’s probably time to trade up to a ABG
camera anyway, whether the Orion one or something else.

I’m about to talk you out of this Orion cam, so if you really want it,
stop reading now.

Really, stop.

Still with me? OK.

You are forever shooting stuff that’s way too small for your FOV.
Getting a camera with a bigger chip is just going to make this worse.
Remember that I’m getting the whole Orion Nebula and Running Man in one
(carefully framed) FOV, and I have nearly twice the focal length that
you do. Putting a big-ass DSLR-style chip on the NP-127 is going to send
you right into the “hey, I can get the Pleiades with actual room around

them” realm, and M51 is going to be “aww, cute little double speck”.
Anything smaller is going to be useless.

Look at these 2 images:
http://www.jimbo.net/astro/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/20070705_M20_48×2min.jpg (Veronica, 1000mm)
http://www.jimbo.net/astro/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/20060820_M20_5×2min.jpg (ED80, 600mm)

Both were taken with the same camera. Both are 900×600 crops out of the
center of a 3008×2000 frame.

Sobering.

You have built your setup around the chip size of the camera you have. I
think that you would do well to pick up a AT66 to get a little wider (if
you find some targets that require it) and a 10” f/5 Orion Newt to get

more magnification (which you seem to need badly). Getting a camera with
a bigger chip might actually be a step in the wrong direction for you,
unless you are secretly trying to do widefield constellation type shots.

OTOH, If you made the 10” your main scope (silly, but I’m just throwing
it out there), selling the ST-8 for big $ would buy you the new camera
*and* the 10” (and rings, a focuser, etc.).

J