Can either the Nikon Cool Pix 800 or 950 be used for taking photos of deep sky objects (such as galaxies or nebula) in astrophotography. I know they can be used to photo very bright objects like the moon or planets. Can the exposure time be lengthened to about 5 minutes or is there any other way of manipulating the settings to capture maximal light. Also can these digital cameras be attached to the telescope with a C-mount?

Thanks,

Ken

-- Ken (kendive@bigplanet.com), February 09, 2000

Answers

The lenses don't come off (well, not deliberately anyway), because the sensor is so small that any dust getting into the camera would look like boulders on the image.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 10, 2000.

I think the "noise" levels on long exposures might also degrade the overall performance in an astronomical use. There are digital "cameras" designed for astro-photos and designed for use with telescopes. I don't have a clue as to current prices. Check any of the news-stand hobbyist astronomy magazines. Unless they are just way out of reach, or you are a wonder with jury-rigging something, this sounds like a classic example of "use the right tool for the job." And of course those units are designed for telescope use so they can't be crossed-over to general use either.

-- Craig Gillette (cgillette@thegrid.net), February 12, 2000.

The CP950 does not have a bulb or 'open' setting. Max is about 5 sec.

-- Dave Clark (daveclark@mail.com), February 18, 2000.