The PixCel 237 works beautifully in combination with the new Celestron Fastar-compatible Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes. (It should be noted that the original Fastar telescope has been discontinued by Celestron. Now all 8 and 11 inch Celestar/Nextar and Ultima series scopes, and the C-14, have the Fastar option built in.) These scopes have the unique ability to be used in many photographic configurations. They can be used at f/10 (or f/6.3 to f3.3 with optical reducers), at f/20 and higher with appropriate Barlow lenses, and at f/2 prime focus. The latter is the most exciting. By actually removing the secondary mirror from the corrector plate, and attaching a set of special optics, the telescope can be used for wide field imaging, by CCD standards. Think of it as a CCD Schmidt camera. In this configuration the field of view of the Fastar 8 is approximately 30 by 40 minutes of arc, or nearly two-thirds of a degree wide. For such a small chip, this field of view is astounding. With the CCD camera attached to the front of the telescope at prime focus (and owing to the fast f/2 ratio), images that would ordinarily take many minutes can be achieved in seconds.
Fastar and PixCel 237 Imaging Tips
Links to Other Fastar Web Sites
Celestron
Fastar Imaging Group
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