Astro Camera for a NexStar 8SE Schmidt-Cassegrain & a Coronado PST Solar Scope

[Geoffw]

I’ve been looking for a reasonably priced camera for deep sky, planetary and lunar imaging with my NexStar 8SE.  But, this weekend I unexpectedly acquired a Coronado PST solar scope.  So, I am now looking for a camera that would work effectively with both.

 i have recently missed out on purchasing a second hand Altair Hypercam 183C. Would this still fit the bill, or should I be looking at something else?

[Cosmic Geoff]

You can do planetary and lunar imaging with a C8 SE, but it will be a pain because the mount is only suitable for visual use.

The 183C looks like overkill for planetary imaging (or solar),  and you will not manage much in the way of deep sky imaging unless you buy a more suitable mount, like the HEQ5, AVX or EQ6. You will probably also need some gear for autoguiding.

[Michael Murphy]

I image the odd time with my PST and use a QHY5 mono guide camera.

I'm open to correction on this but I believe the focus point for the PST is inside the eye piece holder so you need the 1.25 format camera (either QHY5 or asi 120 mini) to place the sensor at the appropriate spot.

Michael.

 

[Pete Presland]

Its been a while since i owned my Coronado PST scope, but i seem to remember it being very close to not focusing in the inwards direction. I had to use a very short eye piece adaptor for the DMK21 camera i was using at the time.

Maybe things have changed somewhat since then, with the newer ZWO cameras etc....especially with being able to screw direct to the diagonals on the Lunt's. Maybe this would possible with the PST?

[Elp]

For PST imaging see my thread here:

 

 

[bwj]

I don't knowvif it will help with camera choice much, but this article goes through using the 8SE pretty well.

https://www.sdfalchetti.com/blog-1/2021/1/16/astrophotography-with-the-nexstar-8se

I keep reading comments that you can't do decent astrophotography with an alt az mount, or specifically with an SE. But it seems there are a lot of people successfully using them. Especially if it's what you already have, you can work with it. If for personal reasons you want to upgrade later, that's  great.

Clear Skies.

Edited January 1 by bwj
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