Getting started : long exposure astrophotography

353 Pages·2013·14.21 MB·English

by  Hall

Copyright © 2013 by Allan Hall 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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www.allans-stuff.com/leap/
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Front cover background: Rosette Nebula, Copyright Allan Hall Front cover smaller images left: M13,
Copyright Allan Hall Front cover smaller images center: Helix Nebula, Copyright Allan Hall Front cover
smaller images right: M74, Copyright Allan Hall Back cover: Copyright Allan Hall
Section title page images: Copyright Allan Hall
Section title page images: Copyright Allan Hall
Acknowledgements:
The following persons/companies have graciously agreed to allow reprints of
their screens in this publication.
Adobe product screenshot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Star charts printed from AstroPlanner V2, used with permission, Paul Rodman, Author AstroPlanner &
AstroAid screenshots used with permission, Paul Rodman, Author Stellarium screenshots used with
permission, Alexander Wolf, Developer Star Walk screenshots used with permission, Olga Shtaub, Vito
Technology Inc.
Clear Sky Chart screenshot used with permission, Attilla Danko, Author Images Plus screenshots used with
permission, Mike Unsold, Author
EQMOD screenshots used with permission, Chris Shillito, Author
C2A screenshots used with permission, Philippe Deverchere, Author
TheSkyX screenshots used with permission, Daniel Bisque, VP Software Bisque, Inc.
Deep Sky Stacker screenshots used with permission, Luc Coiffier, Author Deep Sky Planner screenshots
used with permission, Phyllis Lang, Owner Knightware LLC
SkyTools screenshots used with permission, Greg Crinklaw, Skyhound.com
FITS Liberator screenshots used with permission, Lars Christensen, Project Executive Images from New
Mexico Skies observatory used with permission, Lynn Rice, Co-Owner DSLRShutter/PHD screenshots
used with permission, Craig Stark, Author Alignmaster screenshots used with permission, Matthias
Garzarolli, Author RSpec screenshots used with permission, Tom Field, Author
Orion Telescopes logos and brand names appear with permission, Mary Caballo, Orion Inc.
SkySafari screenshots used with permission, Tim DeBenedictis, Owner
PixInsight screenshots used with permission, Juan Conejero, Principal Developer, Pleiades Astrophoto, S.L.
PHDLab screenshots used with permission, John Wainwright, Author
NASA HD App screenshots used with permission, NASA App Team
BackyardEOS screenshots used with permission, Guylain Rochon, Author
For Big...
Table of Contents
Section 1. The basics
1.0 Introduction
1.1 About the book
1.2 Your budget & realistic expectations
1.3 The mount
1.4 The telescope
1.5 Basic setup
1.6 Guide scope & guiding
1.7 The camera
1.8 Other important equipment
1.9 Acquiring images
Section 2. Up and running
2.1 Camera control software
2.2 Mount control/Planetarium software
2.3 Tablet software
2.4 My setup procedure
2.5 Exposure considerations
2.6 Post processing overview
2.7 Finding targets, session planning
2.8 Astrophotography with camera lenses
2.9 Brand specific considerations
2.10 Diagnosing image errors
Section 3. Making your head hurt
3.1 Shooting mono to get color
3.2 Stacking images
3.3 Stretching images
3.4 Image acquisition tricks and tips
3.5 High Dynamic Range acquisition & processing
3.6 Tuning PHD for best guiding results
3.7 Creating a custom light box for flats
3.8 Remote observatories
3.9 Being different: Spectroscopy
3.10 Closing notes
3.11 Where to go from here
Section 4. Top 25 targets to start with
Section 5. Glossary
My primary imaging scope aligning on a target