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Does anybody know how expensive the setup described is?

- Remotely-controlled observatory at the El Sauce Observatory in Chile

- A 160-mm APO-refractor telescope and a Moravian CCD

- Presumably hefty image processing requirements

- etc.

I get that these guys are amateurs in that they are not being paid for this but presumably this costs some serious money? Or are the components they use in reach of a well to do hobbyist these days (all relative I know)?

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All in USD: Scope 13k Camera 7k Mount 9k

Thats just the big ticket stuff. Theyll have a guidescope, colour filters, laptop (i assume), all sorts of paraphernalia supporting the effort.

Given that its remote controlled and in an observatory in Chile I suspect that adds another order of magnitude to the cost. But I'm unsure specifically how much, or if they're renting scope time.

You can buy much cheaper equipment and still do admirably, this set up is really quite extreme for a hobbyist.

Here is a writeup with pictures of a remote controlled observatory located in southern France (ROSA-REMOTE): http://lievenpersoons.com/astrophotography/observatory.html

Sounds like it took several trips and weeks to get it right.

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