Bill Gray wrote:
>
> Off-topic question: if anyone has succeeded in getting images of
>stars, covering a field of at least a few degrees with a cheap Web cam,
>please contact me via private e-mail. I've not abandoned my hopes of
>using such a camera to make digital setting circles almost obsolete, as
>discussed at
>
>http://www.projectpluto.com/webcam.htm
Hi, Bill,
I have a Supercircuits PC23C B/W surveillance camera with which I can
use any C-mount lens, or, with an adapter, any Yashica-mount SLR
lens. With a Zeiss 50mm f/1.7 lens (wide open) I can image stars in
about a 4.5 degree field (horizontal) down to about mag 7.5. I probably
lose a mag or so going from my camera to my video capture card,
but you can get a sense of things by looking at the Iridium Flare
capture, described below.
The camera has a sensitivity of 0.04 lux and see quite well into the
infra-red. I have used it for imaging satellites and can often follow
satellites after friends using binocs lose them visually.
If anyone has a cable modem, T1, or DSL, they are welcome to
check out a few of my low-light astrovideos on my FTP site.
The Iridium Flare, at 19 Mb, is a spectacular flare video.
Others with the PC23C are: Planetary Conjunction (33.5 Mb),
taken in April 2000, and Orion Rising (14.7 Mb). These are
MPG videos that still look pretty good when run full screen.
The Iridium Flare video was shot with a 50mm lens, I am not
sure about the others.
Clear skies.
Roger
---------------
Roger Curry
Jacksonville, Florida
Visit the NEFAS Web Site at www.nefas.org
Join the Yahoo! NEFAS Club at
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/nefas
Roger's FTP site: ftp://rcurry.dns2go.com