NV Night Vision astronomy

[memoryman]

I've just come across this term whilst investigating EAA and VA.

Could someone explain what Night Vision (NV) is, especially as it relates to EAA and VA? The more I try to understand this subject the more I find that new information and camera options pop up to confuse me! I want to make the right decision about which camera option to use (and buy) for real, or near real time observing from my back garden. I have no intention of abandon ping visual observing which I still enjoy and see the options above as an additional way of observing fainter objects without necessarily having to travel large distances in order to do so. It will also allow me to show my family and friends the joys of the night sky without them having to wait their turn and possibly even stay warm!

 

Could someone explain what Night Vision (NV) is, especially as it relates to EAA and VA? The more I try to understand this subject the more I find that new information and camera options pop up to confuse me! I want to make the right decision about which camera option to use (and buy) for real, or near real time observing from my back garden. I have no intention of abandon ping visual observing which I still enjoy and see the options above as an additional way of observing fainter objects without necessarily having to travel large distances in order to do so. It will also allow me to show my family and friends the joys of the night sky without them having to wait their turn and possibly even stay warm!

Could someone explain what Night Vision (NV) is, especially as it relates to EAA and VA? The more I try to understand this subject the more I find that new information and camera options pop up to confuse me! I want to make the right decision about which camera option to use (and buy) for real, or near real time observing from my back garden. I have no intention of abandon ping visual observing which I still enjoy and see the options above as an additional way of observing fainter objects without necessarily having to travel large distances in order to do so. It will also allow me to show my family and friends the joys of the night sky without them having to wait their turn and possibly even stay warm!

Could someone explain what Night Vision (NV) is, especially as it relates to EAA and VA? The more I try to understand this subject the more I find that new information and camera options pop up to confuse me! I want to make the right decision about which camera option to use (and buy) for real, or near real time observing from my back garden. I have no intention of abandon ping visual observing which I still enjoy and see the options above as an additional way of observing fainter objects without necessarily having to travel large distances in order to do so. It will also allow me to show my family and friends the joys of the night sky without them having to wait their turn and possibly even stay warm!

[PeterW]

I am writing a post, in a word it can help greatly to avoid long journeys and aperture fever, though there are some caveats.

 

cheers

 

peterW

[DoctorD]

Hi memoryman

I've no experience of night vision cameras, although I've seen a few people experiment with it, there are security cameras such as the SBC2000/SDC435, which I have used, that have a night vision mode which can be used for EAA and can be used without a computer.

However for the remote viewing experience you can share I'd still recommend the Lodestar X2 camera and Starlight Live software - in case you missed it, here's a video showing a typical nights viewing speeded up by x16 - C8 SCT with F3.3 reducer on HEQ5 mount Lodestar-C (not X2) and Starlight live running on a 2009 Macbook Pro from the warmth and comfort of my study with the scope on the drive outside:

HTH

Paul

[PeterW]

Slightly confusing post... most (i.e. All) people on this subforum are either using low light video cams or Astro CCD (maybe CMOS too) camera and taking short exposures to "see" things, you can observe from inside and let the camera get cold. We are still observers, not artists (as the people who take dozen hour exposures and then spend days fiddling with the data in photoshop are).

If you are after the idea of popping a Night vision system (image intensifier) down the eyepiece to improve the naked eye view then you'll find yourself in a very small crowd. For a good overview I suggest checking out Peter wangs intro http://pwang.io/hobbies/astro/nightvision/
Basically you'll be needing to find yourself a gen3 intensifier system (secondhand sections of hunting forums are a good place to start). The cloudynights Electronics assisted forum is the place to find the answers, but 99% of people there are in the US due to Export restrictions. On many commercial systems you can simply replace the front lens with a 1.25" adapter for scope work or a camera at lens, but do check first. Not being in the US means no spec sheets and so you get what you get. Does it work... yes, very well on hydrogen nebulosity and globs, on galaxies it depends on the type as night vision only picks up red/near infrared. What to see... I stared to make a list.. http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/521870-nviee-observing-list/. Look for jdbastro and carpenocturnum on YouTube for some realtime videos. 

You will need a deep red (e.g 680nm long pass filter (for light pollution rejection) and a narrow hydrogen alpha filter for nebulae. The unfiltered view will generally be bright green with few stars, the red filter (and use a good dew/straylight shield will really bring the stars out) Then you can see the milkyway (a view richer than you'll get with bins) and nebulae from urban locations and pick up many nebulae that big dob users consider very hard. Transparency can affect the visibility of nebulae and the view from a dark site is still better. Good outreach tool as people can see what you are talking about.
Great to navigate around starparties stealthily and good for watching nocturnal wildlife like foxes, badgers, bats, owls etc. Not cheap, not for everyone, but certainly makes liking in the city more bearable.

Cheers

PeterW