For some bizarre reason, few books on astrophotography acknowledge the work of others. This is not one of them.
Steve Richards, Making Every Photo Count, Self Published, 2011
This is a popular book that introduces digital astrophotography to the beginner. It is now in its second edition and is been updated to include modern CCD cameras. The emphasis is on using digital SLRs.
Charles Bracken, The Astrophotography Sky Atlas, Self Published 2016
This atlas is targeted at astrophotographers to enable them to plan imaging sessions. Includes common and unusual objects in this well-conceived reference, organized for latitude and season.
Allen Hall, Getting Started: Long Exposure Astrophotography, Self Published, 2013
This is an up-to-date book which makes use of affordable equipment on a modest budget. It has an interesting section on spectroscopy and includes several practical projects for upgrading equipment and making accessories. It also features a section on imaging processing, including some of the common tools in PixInsight.
Charles Bracken, The Deep-sky Imaging Primer, Self Published, 2013
This up-to-date work is focused on the essentials of image capture and processing using a mixture of digital SLRs and astronomy CCD cameras. One of its highlights are the chapters that clearly explain complex technical matters.
Robert Gendler, Lessons from the Masters, Springer, 2013
It is not an exaggeration to say that this book is written by the masters. It provides an insight into specific image processing techniques, which push the boundaries of image processing and force you to re-evaluate your own efforts. Highly recommended.
Warren Keller, Inside PixInsight, Springer, 2016
This is the first book dedicated to using PixInsight for image processing. A useful reference.
Ruben Kier, The 100 Best Astrophotography Targets, Springer, 2009
This straightforward book lists well- and lesser-known targets as they become accessible during the year. A useful resource when you wish to venture beyond the Messier catalog.
Thierry Legault, Astrophotography, Rockynook, 2016
This book provides a general overview of astrophotography, touching upon most of the available equipment options with an emphasis on solar-system photography, for which Thierry is highly regarded.
Harold Suiter, Star Testing Astronomical Telescopes, Willmann-Bell Inc, 2013
This book is the definitive guide to star testing telescopes. It helps to evaluate optics, their defects and possible remedies. It offers some interesting insights into the challenges that telescope manufacturers face.
RB Whitaker, The C# Player’s Guide, Starbound, 2015
This book is essential reading for understanding the C# language and the Visual Basic programming environment, useful for developing your own applications and drivers.
J. & B. Albahari, C# 5.0 in a nutshell, O’Reilly, 2012
This book is a reference guide to C# programming. Good for cloudy nights and improving the right biceps.
Stanek, ONeill & Rosen, Microsoft PowerShell, VBScript and JScript Bible, Wiley, 2009
The go to book for all things scripty. Good for improving grey cells and the left biceps.
Jeremy Blum, Exploring Arduino, Wiley, 2013
An easy introduction to the Arduino, with practical hardware and software projects.
Harry’s Pixinsight | www.harrysastroshed.com |
PixInsight support videos | www.pixinsight.com/videos |
PixInsight support tutorials | www.pixinsight.com/tutorials |
PixInsight tutorials | www.deepskycolors.com/tutorials.html |
PixInsight DVD tutorials | www.ip4ap.com/pixinsight.htm |
Stargazer’s Lounge | www.stargazerslounge.com (UK) |
Cloudy Nights | www.cloudynights.com (US) |
Ice in Space | www.iceinspace.com (AU) |
Progressing Imaging Forum | www.progressiveastroimaging.com |
Astro buy and sell(regional) | www.astrobuysell.com/uk |
PixInsight | www.pixinsight.com/forum |
Maxim DL | www.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/maximdl/info |
Sequence Generator Pro | www.forum.mainsequencesoftware.com |
EQMOD (EQ mount software) | www.groups.yahoo.com/group/eqmod |
Software Bisque (mounts/software) | www.bisque.com/sc/forums |
10Micron (mounts) | www.10micron.eu/en/forum/ |
Metcheck (UK) | www.metcheck.com |
The Weather Channel | www.uk.weather.com |
Clear Sky Chart (N. America) | www.cleardarksky.com |
Scope Nights (App for portable devices) | www.eggmoonstudio.com |
FLO weather (also iOS app version) | www.clearoutside.com |
Dark Sky (also app versions) | www.darksky.net |
Book resources and errata | www.digitalastrophotography.co.uk |
Many relevant formulae are shown throughout the book in their respective chapters. This selection may come in useful too:
This calculates the autoguider rate, in pixels per second, as required by many capture programs. The guide rate is the fraction of the sidereal rate:
Multiplying this by the minimum and maximum moves (seconds) in the guider settings provides the range of correction values from an autoguider cycle.
This calculates the drift rate in arc seconds for a known polar misalignment:
Conversely, this indicates the polar alignment error from a measured drift rate:
Sensor read noise is often quoted in electrons but ignores the pixel size. A more effective comparison between sensors is by normalizing the read noise to the pixel area (in microns2). This equation does the conversion:
This calculates the periodic error in arc seconds for a given declination and pixel drift:
This alternative equation calculates the zone of acceptable focus for a given set of seeing conditions and uses a quality factor Q. Q is a measure of de-focus contribution in relation to the overall seeing conditions, expressed as a percentage (with a working value of 15%). F is the focal ratio.:
(LAT=latitude, HA = hour angle, expressed in degrees)
When computing the Azimuth, a correction has to be made around the full circle:
If sin(HA) is negative, then AZ = A, otherwise AZ = 360 – A
The first edition included a table of Messier objects above the imaging horizon (30° altitude or more at a London latitude) along with the month in which they first attain this altitude at dusk and the likely imaging time-span before each sets below 30°. Charles Bracken has since published The Astrophotography Sky Atlas, created specifically with imaging in mind. In this book he has taken this concept, born from the same initial thoughts of an aide memoir, and compiled extensive catalogs and sky charts, in a similar chronological arrangement. Many worthwhile objects are excluded from normal sky atlases, as they are too dim to observe visually. With extended exposures, however, these jewels become apparent. This book not only includes the common Messier objects but extensively maps out the Sharpless, RCW, van den Bergh, Abel and Hickson objects of imaging merit. It also provides seasonal imaging targets for other latitudes. As such, it is an excellent planning companion, especially to seek out less well-known objects or those with indistinct boundaries and I serve the reader better by making them aware of this book, rather than to reproduce a latitude-specific Messier table, confined to a few pages.
Rather than break the back of this book by laying it flat to photocopy printed templates, the book’s support website has downloadable spreadsheets. These include templates to record imaging sessions and documenting essential data for a particular equipment configuration (which is often required by the imaging software for a quick and repeatable setup).
I keep an A5 logbook to record the settings for each imaging event. The record sheet is a digital alternative, that can also work as an A5 printout for reference. It is not the last word by any means and serves as a starting point for further adds and deletes. In both cases, the values in green cells are automatically calculated from other data and the sheet is customized by changing the data in the yellow cells. They were generated with Apple’s Numbers application for more universal appeal on PC, Mac and portable devices. (Anyone with an iCloud account can also view and edit these files using a browser.)