Digital Astrophotography

This book contains basic astrophotography techniques, from selecting equipments, planning an imaging session, to computer image processing.

Setting up the expectations

Before starting, it is important to understand what one can reasonably expect to get from amateur astro imaging equipments.

Orientation in the night sky

Taking pictures of celestial bodies or intergalactic clouds is relatively easy... if you know how to find them. These objects are huge in comparison to our earth. Not only that, some objects are even comparable in (visual) size with the sun or the moon. The problem is that their light is too weak to be observed directly using our eyes.

Understanding constellations. Some points of interest: the northern star

• Star map
• Planetarium software
  • Stellarium: http://www.stellarium.org/

Some basic projects to get started

Scenic. Star trail. Milky way.

Related Wikibooks:

• General Astronomy