Connecting Computers to Telescopes

[zeth]

What is the current state of digital telescopes? For example, I would like to buy a telescope capable of hooking up with my laptop. <br /><br />In my mind, the ideal setup would be that you would receive a real time video feed of whatever your telescope sees right to your computer. And that you could snap high resolution images at anytime, and even control the telescope's positioning remotely using software on computer.<br /><br />Does anyone have a setup like this, or would care to elaborate more about this type of arrangement? <br /><br />

 

[eosophobiac]

Hi Zeth,<br />I'm sure someone can offer more in-depth advice, but until they do, one thing I'll suggest is to visit this web site, and sort of look through the images, paying attention to the credit lines underneath each pic. Many of the images are taken by amateur astronomers, and the link(s) under the image will take you to their site(s), where you can click around to get an idea on how they acquire their images, since many times, the astronomer will have a link to their 'home observatory', 'equipment', or something similar. Or if not, a lot of times they'll have a 'contact me' link, and you could ask them via email.<br />Any good luck and have fun imaging! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[tfwthom]

All it takes is enough money.<br /><br />What you are asking is what any observers does. Computer controlled telescope (easy mine can be) and a good CCD camera.<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>