10 Nov
2003
10 Nov
'03
2:21 p.m.
Chuck, the regular digital camera I borrowed was almost worthless for astrophotography. They're pretty grainy and I understand they're awful for long exposures -- I think signal noise builds up. That's why the real astrophotography digitals, like SBIG cameras, are relatively expensive. For a low-end camera that may do the trick, try a webcam. The types many amateur astronomers use work extremely well on bright targets like planets and the moon. You shoot a video then stack the best frames using freeware like RegiStax. According to the latest issue of one of the big mags -- I take S&T and Astronomy and don't remember which it was in -- some of these cameras can be modified to allow long exposures. Best wishes, Joe