Can someone thoroughly explain how to...?

Question

capture images and/or video through my telescope using a webcam?

My scope:

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09184?atc=afr0601

Answer 1

Check out..

http://www.bautforum.com/astrophotograph...

There are a lot of great recources and helpful people..  I use both a web cam and an SLR..  I found links to free programs from that site..

You should have an equatorial mount with at least one drive..

Answer 2

it's a dob. you can't.

Answer 3

Here's a website....basically you stick the cam onto the scope in front of the eyepiece where your eye  goes...pretty straightforward, except you gotta figure out how to support the cam...check out the 'site.

Answer 4

ah i had the same problem when i first started out dong astrophotography if this dosent help you i dont deserve to class myself as an experienced astrophotographer

All you really MUST buy is a webcam with a ccd chip,

assuming you already have a telescope. I understand that barlow lenses are the best way to magnify your images. To get started you can capture AVIs using prime focus (using no eyepieces and no barlow lenses) - just your telescope and the webcam.

Only the moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn is suitable for prime focus webcam astrophotography - if your telescope's focal ratio is f/10, your prime focus AVIs will be captured at f/10 as well.

If you decide you want to continue with webcam astrophotography, you can invest in a quality 2x and 3x Barlow lens. I did. It is my best webcam investment yet. With the 2x Barlow your AVIs will be captured at f/20 and with the 3x Barlow your AVIs will be captured at f/30 (assuming you have an f/10 telescope).

There is no other special lenses, filters or software you must have.

The following webcams are all used widely for webcam astrophotography

Phillips Vesta Pro (my webcam)

PhillipsToucam Pro

Logitec hQuickcam Pro 3000 or 4000