A comprehensive yet accessible handbook providing guidelines for both beginners and experienced astrophotographers
Digital SLR cameras have made it easier than ever before to photograph the night sky. Whether you're a beginner, nature photographer, or serious astronomer, this is the definitive handbook to capturing the heavens. Starting with simple projects for beginners such as cameras on tripods, it then moves onto more advanced projects including telescope photography and methods of astronomical research.
With 80% revised and updated material, this new edition covers nightscapes, eclipses, using cameras with sky trackers and telescopes, and tools for identifying celestial objects and investigating them scientifically. Image processing is discussed in detail, with worked examples from three popular software packages - Nebulosity, Maxlm DL, and PixInsight.
Rather than taking a recipe-book approach, Covington explains how your equipment works as well as offering advice on many practical considerations, such as choice of set-up and the testing of lenses, making this a comprehensive guide for anyone involved in astrophotography.
Table of Contents
- Welcome to DSLR astrophotography
- Digital image technology
- DSLR operation
- Five simple projects
- Deep-sky image acquisition
- Coupling cameras to telescopes
- Camera lenses
- Tracking the stars
- Precision tracking and guiding
- Power and camera control in the field
- Deep-sky image processing
- Workflow with specific software
- More image processing techniques
- Sun, moon, eclipses, and planets
- Sensor performance
- Testing sensors
- Spectral response and filter modification
- Tools for astronomical research
Review:
'You never stop learning about this vast topic, so it's great when a book comes along that's loaded with tips to take your imaging further. … Covington conveys the information in such a relaxed style that even the techie stuff is pleasant to read. Everything about DSLRs you can think of is covered here and the text is complemented by clear and informative line drawings and black and white photos. Illustrations showing you how to couple a camera and a telescope are particularly good and very helpful for beginners. The text is littered with commonsense practical advice and useful tips … every DSLR astrophotographer should have a copy of this great book.' BBC Sky at Night
