help on a set up for deep sky imaging and planetary

[Dean]

Hi i have been observing now for six months and would now like to have a go at deepsky and planetary imaging. I have a skywatcher 130p and a skyliner 300p plus a laptop with vista. I have been looking at a second hand skywatcher evostar 100ed2 pro f5 on a eq5 mount. Is this needed plus can anybody recomend a webcam which cam be used on vista or an digital camera that will do the job while not spending to much. Thanks Dean

[Beyond_Vision]

A DSLR would be a great starting point as the camera can be used for daytime photography too. If the 130P is on an Alt/Az mount you will be limited to very short exposures which will be ok for Planetary or Moon shots but not for dimmer DSO's . In order to take longer exposures you will need an equatorial mount that is driven by motors to track the sky. For imaging the tracking accuracy of the mount and the focal ratio of the scope (lower numbers means less exposure time required) will dictate the length of exposures that the system is capable of.

Regards

Kevin