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M57. Note central star and others easily visible.

NGC 5866. Dust lane enjoyed from 10 feet away sitting in my lawn chair.

M51. Much better view on the monitor than the photo shows. H2 regions, bridge to satalite galaxy, dust lanes etc are all spectacular live.

Video Imaging

Imaging with MallinCam

These photos were taken with my 25" f/5 Obsession, ServoCAT drive, MallinCam Pro video camera and displayed on an ordinary 800 line Black & White "security monitor". No computer needed. Just stick the camera in the focuser and connect the cable to the monitor.

This was my first time out with the video cam. I used a cheap digital camera and simply aimed it at the monitor to take the shots. It is incredible how much deeper I can see in real time with the video camera than with my eye and scope alone. The night had good seeing but horrible transparency with high thin clouds, haze, first quarter moon, and moderate light pollution at my site. Mag 4.5 sky or worse. Considerable image improvement can be obtained and archived by connecting the camera directly to a VCR or digital recorder.

M64 Blackeye galaxie

Eskimo planetary nebulae

These photos were taken at the 2006 Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys. All were taken with a hand held digital camera off the monitor. They were captured in Black and White because there was a heavy red filter over the monitor to preserve everyones night vision at the star party. There's actually more detail visible with the red filter removed.