Sony a55 DSLRs

I just bought the newly released Sony a55 and its an unbelievable camera. In the process of going through its features and doing a few "lets see what this can do" shots, it hit me that this might be a great camera for also doing some astrophotography. Its been a while since i have gazed at the stars and though now i would go back and refind my old passion for th night skies with my passion for photography. So my questions to all out there are the following;

1) Does anyone else have the a55 and tried using it for astrophotography?
2) Been out of it a while so what suggestions do you guys have for the equipment and software i need for some planetary and DSO photography for clusters and galaxies?

thanks for answers a head of time
William

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  roverich
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  Efirmi626