Product Description

Any amateur astronomer who is interested in astrophotography, particularly if just getting started, needs to know what objects are best for imaging in each month of the year. These are not necessarily the same objects that are the most spectacular or intriguing visually. The camera reveals different things and has different requirements. What objects in the sky tonight are large enough, bright enough, and high enough to be photographed? This book reveals, for each month of the year, the choicest celestial treasures within the reach of a commercial CCD camera. Helpful hints and advice on framing, exposures, and filters are included. Each deep sky object is explained in beautiful detail, so that observers will gain a richer understanding of these astronomical objects.

This is not a book that dwells on the technology of CCD, Webcam, wet, or other types of astrophotography. Neither is it a book about in-depth computer processing of the images (although this topic is included). Detailed discussions of these topics can be found in other publications. This book focuses on what northern latitude objects to image at any given time of the year to get the most spectacular results.

Customer Reviews (11)

A must to have
This is a very good agenda with multiple information that will help on choosing "standard" targets. I really appreciate comments and data on each target, a very good help for the beginner as for the experienced astronomer.

A new classic?One of a kind, highly recommended
I bought this book as soon as it came out so I've had it for several months now.It has become a sort of companion and I really don't know of any other book arranged this way, and I have to say it is fantastic!.It is all meat and potatoes, no fluff or filler.And what is that?Extremely useful information stem to stern on a month by month listing of objects hopefully (depending on where you live) above the 2x airmass needed for good imaging.

Gives all the stuff you want to know, scope used, exposure time, imager used, processing techniques - and best of all these are all done at medium exposure times so no 30 minute sub exposures (and the $$ mounts needed to do it) to get similar results.If you are new to imaging and want a fantastic book to get you started, this is a great choice.I think if you get this book, your imaging ability will will be greatly enhanced and you'll see why it's getting these great reviews.

Although calibrating, stacking, SNR, ...'processing images' is a theater all it's own - too often it's time spent on one object only to find on others a very different proceedure required.Here you have a fantastic array of objects with all that needed processing information in one concise and easily referenced volume.After a few months with this book you'll feel much more at home in this imaging arena and whtever you use, will start to appreciate just what a gem this little book is.Highest recommendation, I think this is a sort of instant classic of this literature.

An essential book for beginning astrophotographers
Why another book of lists? As the author states in the introduction "These famous lists are excellent for visual astronomy but can be disappointing for the astrophotographer. For example, a sparse open star cluster sparkles at the eyepiece but can be uninspiring as an image.... on the other hand many nebulae that are faint to the eye have striking texture and hue on long exposures."

Amen, brother. That says it in a nutshell.

This book also includes the two most important bits of information you need on each object: it's brightness, and how large it appears. There are lots of sources for location information, but the size is rarely given. The book also includes some discussion of how these numbers relate to your telescope and imaging device. It's pretty technical but the answers you need are here.

Each object gets a full page color photo as well as detailed technical information on how the image was captured.

This book meets a real need. Excellent!

CCD Astrophotography "Must Have" book
I am an amateur astrophotographer, and the work for preparation of photos with my setup is a time consuming job (although pleaseant!). This book helps a lot in predicting what you can achieve with a specific setup, proposes targets based on calendar,etc. a big help especially if you are a rookie like me. Highly advise the book for early amateurs wanting for "more" in astrophotography. Thanks Ruben!

Best I've Read!
Of all the astronomy books I have read this one is the best. Mr. Kier looks like he's got his own Hubble! It's the pictures that make this paperback super special. The book is chock full of photos and they all looked the same, simply amazing. Plus, the publisher must have thought so too because it looks like they went all out on the paper. Since the book is well over 300 pages, it must have cost them a pretty penny. The scoping spec's seem of a high quality too but still doesn't explain to me why the shots are of such a high quality.As far as the 100 top targets picked out by Mr. Kier, it's hard to argue with any of them. It seemed to cover the greatest hits but there were some unexpected, but very satisfying surprises. I won't spoil them for the rest of you. I am definitely going to look for this author's next publication for this book because, just like the images, the author reached for the stars and got there. I even liked the dedication. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (16)

Great starting summary for astrophotgraphy options
I had done quite a bit of reading on the topic of astrophotgraphy before discovering this book. My initial thoughs were that it was a little superficial, however on reflection this book is a great place to start if you are looking to understand the various digital camera types (Compact, DSLR, WebCam, CCD) and their suitability to various types of astrophotography (Planetary, Wide field, Deep sky etc). The pros and cons of each are concisely listed and many snippents of good practice are added with each type.

If I'd found this bookearlier, I'd have spent many less hours looking at the various options from many separte sources. There are other books out there that cover DSLRs or CCDs in greater depth, but if you want a grounding in the marvellous boon that digital phtography is to the art of astrophtography this is a great place to start.

I CAN HOLD IT !!!!!!
EASY TO READ,ALOT OF GOOD INFO
FOR A BEGINNER....BEST OF ALL I
CAN HOLD IT.I GOT THAT OTHER BOOK
ON CD ROM. GOOD INFO, BUT HARD TO GET IT.
THIS BOOK I HAVEN'T PUT DOWN SINCE
I GOT IT......

Best 'beginners' book on digital imaging tools & techniques
This book hits the proverbial 'nail-on-the-head' for the beginning imager. From cover to cover, the basics of imaging hardware, software, and photo processing techniques are discussed. The book is very pictorial, so you never find yourself getting lost amongst all the text. I also like the fact that common P&S digital cameras, webcams, DSLRs, & even expensive CCDs are covered. Very helpful illustrations abound for the usage of software such as Registax, Astroart, & Photoshop. Overall, an excellent work that will be a great help to any beginning (or seasoned) astrophotographer.

Bill H
League City, TX

Olympus e420 DSLR
Olympus OM-1 film
NexImage Color RAW Mode modified
Meade Color USB PC camera

Disappointing
I've been reading up on astrophotography but I'm still a rank beginner, so I'm shocked to meet a book that seems too shallow even for me. Here's how the book's contents break down:

13 pages - Introduction
22 pages - Compact Digital Camera
26 pages - Webcam
32 pages - DSLR
42 pages - CCD (SBIG, Starlight Xpress)

Choice of a telescope is limited to a half page discussion in the introduction. There a picture of an equatorial mounting, nothing more. The Meade LPI is given two sentences. For CCD cameras, only the SBIG and Starlight Xpress get a mention. There is no index.

One interesting aspect of the book is the large number of formulas for helping you estimate optimum magnification, angle of view, etc. But overall, this book is trying to cover too much material to do any of it well.

"Digital Astrography": balanced, clear, but slightly too shallow
"Digital astrophotography" presents a reasonable, clear and succint overview of the various options one has for digitally capturing the night sky.The author is well-balanced, and presents the pros and cons of several options, including webcams, DSLR and digital cameras.In that aspect I found the book quite informative.
However, after having decided that I would be aiming for a digital camera, I discovered that making a choice in that (already bewilderingly wide) field did not become easier after reading the book, since the variety between different digital cameras was not discussed in sufficient detail for me.Now, to be fair, the book aims to allow making the first, general choice in a proper manner, and succeeds in that goal - however, I probably would have liked another 10-20 pages per technique that discuss variations thereof in more detail.

Han Zuilhof ... Read more

Product Description
In the last few years, digital SLR cameras have taken the astrophotography world by storm. It is now easier to photograph the stars than ever before! They are compact and portable, flexible to adapt with different lenses and for telescope use, and above all DSLR cameras are easy and enjoyable to use. In this concise guide, experienced astrophotography expert Michael Covington outlines the simple, enduring basics that will enable you to get started, and help you get the most from your equipment. He covers a wide selection of equipment, simple and advanced projects, technical considerations and image processing techniques. Unlike other astrophotography books, this one focuses specifically on DSLR cameras, not astronomical CCDs, non-DSLR digital cameras, or film. This guide is ideal for astrophotographers who wish to develop their skills using DSLR cameras and as a friendly introduction to amateur astronomers or photographers curious about photographing the night sky. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

OUTSTANDING ADDITION TO MY LIBRARY
BOOK IS VERY, VERY PRATICAL WITH "DOWN TO EARTH" EXPLANATIONS.EXCELLENT
PUBLICATION FOR THE NOVICE ASTRO-PHOTOGRAPHER AND BOOK CAN BE USED AS A
REFERENCE WHEN ATTEMPTING DEEP SPACE PHOTOGRAPHY.IT IS EVERYTHING
I HAVE EXPECTED AND MORE.

Astrophoto basics plus
Mr Covington is an amayeur astronomer who has taken some wonderful astrophotos and is well qualified to explain the hows of this art.He has written a straight forward, easy to understand book that makes the subject to digital photography easy for the average person.I found his explanations understandable, making sense to even my "photo challenged" mind. Excellent book!

Excellent resource for current information on DSLR Astrophotography
Michael Covington's new book contains the latest information, it was published in December of 2007, on recent cameras' and their features that apply to digital astrophotography. The author, after covering the DSLR features, makes informed recommendations regarding their use for astrophotography. I highly recommend this book.

DISAPPOINTING...
In first place, I bought this book because of it was recommended from Sky and Telescope.
But, when having it on my hands and after reading it I found:
1- Author is making constant references to his other two books, with no further explanations (if you want to know more, BUY my other books).
2- Book is soft cover and pictures are black and white.
3- Has many formulas. Amateurs want a "hands-on" style, not making calculations that show the author as "how much I know", that's not practical.
4- Many parts are really useful, and some others don't.
5- Some parts look like a handful of advices that you can find everywhere on the net.
6- He explains methods, that end up with author saying like "despite of this method I prefer..." and then he mentions another one. A waste of time!
7- Add the book cost, and this is not a deal.
Hope my review can be helpful to other people that as me, thought this book was a real good one (before purchase).

An informative read
No matter how much you know...there is always much more to learn. Thats the feeling I got after reading this book. I thought I knew a bit about photography and image processing, but it appears my knowledge had as many holes in it as a block of Swiss cheese. If you are new to astrophotography, this book should be your bible. If you already know a bit, there are still topics you may not have even considered. Highly recommended for the serious amatuer. ... Read more

Product Description
With this extraordinary handbook, you, too, can frame the stars and have them hanging on your livingroom walls. Astrophotography for the Amateur provides a complete guide to taking pictures of stars, galaxies, the Moon, the Sun, comets, meteors and eclipses, using equipment and materials readily available to the hobbyist. Based on suggestions from readers of the first edition, the new edition has been completely updated and expanded to include new chapters on computer image processing and CCD imaging; expanded advice on choosing cameras and telescopes; completely updated information about films; a much larger bibliography; and hundreds of new photographs (in color and black and white) demonstrating the latest equipment and techniques. Astrophotography for the Amateur has become the standard handbook for all amateur astronomers. This new edition provides an ideal introduction for beginners and a complete handbook for advanced amateurs. It will also appeal to photography enthusiasts who will discover how to take spectacular images with only modest equipment.Michael A. Covington received his Ph.D. at Yale University. He is the author of several books, including Syntactic Theory in the High Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1984).He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and is the Associate Director of the Artificial Intelligence Center at the University of Georgia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Good but slightly outdated.
A good book but it is outdated, so it makes it kinda difficult to remember.

Great bargain
The three stars are more for the condition of the book itself, not the overall transaction experience. This is the classic case of getting what you pay for, and I think I did. The book was listed in "good" condition, but is falling apart at the binding (pages are falling out) but the print is clear despite the fact that it seems to be soaked with some kind of light oil or perfume (maybe spilled on it?). It would have helped if the seller mentioned this problem, but even at less than 1/10 the price of a new book, I might not have chosen to buy it if I knew this. There are only a few pages I needed from it anyway, and after xeroxing them I keep the book in a plastic baggie to contain the smell. I am satisfied with the amount I paid for this book.

Very good reference book for any astrophotographer
Micheal Covington's book covers all aspects of astrophotography starting from objects, from camera selection to films, exposure methods, mounts and drives, guiding of the mount & guiding accuracy/errors, and of course the CCD imaging. I also gives ideas on how to build a simple barn door mount. It does not end at taking exposures. After an exposure is taken we have to convert it into an acceptable quality print or into a computer file. Images can be greatly improved by digital processing. So it also covers image processing ideas. The only point to be noted is that one must look at his website and download the errata. The book has many printing errors, some of which are trivial though. That, of course, must not deter any user. I consider is my best field guide book on this topic. I believe his recent edition has got over these errors - not mine. I bought mine in 1999.

Great Introductory book
This book is a must in doing amateur astrophotography if you are going serious. It has lots of information which is very useful.For example it teach you to calculate the focal ratio using diferent techniques of takig pictures with the telescope, it help you calculate the exposure times in order to photograph the moon or a constelation on a tripod.
It is an excellent source but you have to do calculations(formulas).If you don't like numbers, this book is not for you, but if you do like numbers this book is very useful.

My best book on astrophotography
I've bought a handful of books on the subject, and this one is head and shoulders above the rest. Some of the other books have lots of pretty pictures, and very little information on actually taking photos. I found the instructions easy to follow, and when I had a question, or needed to figure something out, this book always had it. Two big thumbs up! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Great Buy
The order was recieved in a short amount of time and in very good condition. Thank you!

Awesome Pictures
The images are breathtaking, but it would have been nice to know what type of telescope, camera, etc, was used for each picture.

Stars for beginners
I bought this book for my daughter who is 7 years old and who started to study the Universe and the Big Bang at school. We all loved the photos, they are absolutely amazing! Of course we lacked information about what stars are, how they are formed...but I guess that was not the purpose of the book. If you are looking for that type of information you should go for an enciclopedia, but if you are an amateur and only want to know whatour universe looks like then this is a great book!

I might have bought it, but didn't because....
....of the reasons already given by the other reviewers: no technical details of equipment used, exposures, or processing. This information would have been so easy to add and would have enhanced the book considerably. Omitting this information was a major error.

Beautful, but.....
This book is a compilation of the best of the best! I highly recommend it to everyone. The labor of love that went into making these images is astounding. I do astrophotograhy myself and I can understand the efforts invloved. However,
I do wish more technical details were given explaining how (exposures, imagers, processing, telescopes, and mounts) these fantastic images were aquired.
I look forward to a sequel!
Bob ... Read more

Product Description

Not all amateur astronomers who live in a suburban location realize just how very effective a ‘chilled-chip’ astronomical CCD-camera and software can be at cutting through seemingly impenetrable light-pollution. CCD Astrophotography from the Suburbs details one man’s approach to the problem of getting high-quality astronomical images under light-polluted conditions. Adam Stuart has written this reference book for all amateur astronomers who are interested in CCD imaging, especially those who have to work under suburban conditions. The book outlines the materials and (commercially-available) equipment used for high-quality imaging. The many wonderful images Dr. Stuart has produced allow the reader to see the product of – initially – a fellow beginner’s efforts. The glorious images found in numerous books, and especially those seen in Sky and Telescope magazine – might seem out of reach. But this is not really the case. Respectable images are attainable with modest equipment. This book outlines a complete and thoroughly tested working program for every beginner to achieve high-quality digital imaging.

Customer Reviews (21)

Interesting guide for beginners
This book is giving a great picture of all aspects for CCD Astrophotography. It is a very good guide for Begineers!

Don't waste your money
This book is basically broken down into two parts.The first 80 pages are all about the author's equipment and setup.The second 80 pages are images he took. The first part may be useful if you have the exact same equipment but, if not, you won't get anything out of it.His images range from mediocre to great, but there is no information on how he captured or processed them.In short, this is just a great big pat on the back by the author for the author.Don't waste your money, you'll get nothing for it.

Don't buy this book
What a disappointment... this book was not useful to me for any purpose other than to read about the equipment & software used by the author.It's nothing more than a chronology and documentary on the equipment HE owns and uses, but there is absolutely no information on HOW to use it.I was expecting and/or hoping for "reference" type information, but the book is essentially useless for this purpose.The author will tell you everything you want to know about HIS equipment and setup (in a manner that goes over the head of nearly all beginners) but does absolutely nothing to educate you on how to effectively take "high quality astrophotography from the suburbs".Even worse, half of the book contains nothing more than photos that he took, but there is no information on technique.If you want a "guided tour" of the author's setup, then you'll love the book, but if you want to know anything at all about how to use it, or even better... how to use your own or other equipment, absolutely positively 100% stay away from this book.I think the book is a scam-- to get you to buy and use equipment owned by the author.I wonder if the different equipment manufacturers and vendors pay the guy to name-drop and "advertise" in his book.What a disappointment.

Getting Better
At first I did not like the book much and it sat on my shelve. I revisited it recently and have changed my mind. There is a lot of information contained within its pages. It may not be the best laid out book for beginners and the Observatory section needs to be dropped, never the less if you read through it you can learn a lot. It is with out doubt an improvement on some of the astrophotography books in the Practical Astronomy series, some of which should never have been printed but there is still room for a good intro book in this area.

I am a little bit disappointed
I could hardly wait for this book because I live next to a more than 2 million-city (Budapest) in Hungary and half of the night sky is terrible from my backyard; so the main reason behind my ordering this book was its subtitle.

But the truth is that only the very first section (seven pages incl. pictures and PC screenshots) of this book deals with this problem and that is just a kind of approach from bird's eye view; the rest of the text is a "normal" and elementary level astro-photo book. (And I have much better astro photography and image processing sources as Wodarski or Berry&Burnell...)

At the same time, there are too many pictures (roughly 1/3 of the book!!!) as sample image collection. Some of them are really very nice shots and some others are poor but without any explanations regarding the features of their capture and/or image processing.

So this book is not bad at all but I can recommend it for beginners only as another overview about new technology of astro-photography and there is nothing special in it. ... Read more

Product Description

Most people are familiar with the spectacular Hubble Space Telescope images - most of them in the public domain and available on the Internet. But the Hubble images, constrained by the observing program of the HST, are mainly very distant, strange objects. There are very few high-quality books of wide-field deep-sky images on the market, primarily because the major professional telescopes are scheduled for research projects and beautiful images are secondary.

Star Vistas contains many spectacular photographs that were made specifically for this book. They are unavailable elsewhere. There are beautiful pictures of the Moon and constellations, but most of the book contains rare wide-field astronomical images and some of the most exquisite star photographs ever made.

Moreover, all these astronomical photographs were made using commercially-available amateur equipment and software! That this is possible is a testament to the development of modern optical and imaging technology, the excellence of relatively low-cost telescopes and cameras, to the author's skill in taking the photographs, and to Noel Carboni's skill in processing the images.

Whether it is to be used as a reference and gold standard for amateur imaging, or simply as a book of beautiful images of the night sky to be marvelled at, this book deserves a place in the library of anyone interested in our fascinating universe.

Customer Reviews (6)

Deeply Mysterious
This is a very beautiful book. The images are stunning with no text overlaying them. When one looks at these images one can be taken by the magnitude of the utter mystery that they are. What an incredible universe.
If you want to know what the quality of the images is like you could visit one of the authors website which has a representative image of the Cone Nebula. Following is the URL of the image:[...]

Good, clean imagery - but I've seen lots better
I am pretty disappointed with this book, since the 4 reviews before mine made it out to be the best thing going on astrophotography. Very disappointed, actually.

The photos are all fairly similar - competent and clean and interesting but not the A-level I was given to expect. As I say, I've seen MUCH better stuff, at least in digital form and also in some books such as COSMOS (Giles Sparrow), HUBBLE (Kerrod and Stott), UNIVERSE (Dinwiddie, et. al). These are not books with just star fields but have lots of text and graphics and constellation charts and such. But the each have spectacular examples of individual features enhanced and blasting with brilliant color.

STAR VISTAS is a nice enough book; but,really, it's not fantastic. It is quite competent and nice -- little more than that.

I sure wouldn't want to pay full price.

What an amazing collection of pictures
Wow!!The subtitle is "A Collection of Fine Art Astrophotography", and it does not disappoint.My wife, the artist, wanted to see what "Fine Art" and Astrophotography had in common, she was not disappointed. I have dabbled a bit in this hobby, but never with the results that these two guys have achieved.It humbles me when I see such fantastic work and realize that these are "ordinary" guys with fairly ordinary equipment.
The authors have brought to our coffee table, pictures of deep sky objects that previously were only available to owners of massive telescopes and massive budgets.......in fact, these pictures are easily finer than anything found in any book of ten years ago.....using any equipment.
We ordered this book, and then left for a few days on vacation...and we had some friends pick up the book when it was delivered to our front door.Well, I almost didn't get it away from them.They are both fans of deep space images and I guess I now know what their Christmas gift is going to be.
As a lover of deep sky photographs some of the images bring tears to my eyes.....to understand that these are pictures of something that happened thousands of years ago and that the light is just now making its way through trillions of miles of space is incredible.And, Dr. Parker and Mr. Carboni have done a wonderful job of capturing and displaying the images.

What is truly amazing is that these aren't hubble images taken with a massive budget and equipment, these are taken with "off the shelf" equipment in a less than perfect location (cloudy england)...just amazing.

If you appreciate deep space photography, this is a must have book......if you have a friend who appreciates deep sky photography...what better gift?This is a gift that you can give to anyone and it'll always be displayed with pride by the recipient. (I have three, so far).

Finest astrophotograpy book I have seen.
My previous review didn't "take" somehow, which is unfortunate because more people need to know about this book.Greg Parker captures the photographic data with equipment that is all available to amateurs, and he emails the data to Noel Carboni, who stacks and processes the images.The result is fantastic imagery.As a member of Our Dark Skies Forum, I have been privileged to watch these images be produced, as Greg and Noel often share their images with forum members, and we can see the images evolve as Greg gathers more data and Noel combines it.

The printing job is very good, and the layout of the book is great, with full-bleed imagery.Another great plus is the text descriptions that accompany the images.The authors manage to convey interesting information on these objects without resorting to jargon.The result is descriptions that are accessible to the layman (even younger people), though quite interesting to people who are more advanced in astronomy.

A nice plus:There are three forwards.One each by Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Sir Patrick Moore, and Dr. Brian May.Three wonderful endorsements, indeed.The generous size of the book and the high-quality images make this an excellent coffee-table book for astronomers and non-astronomers alike.If you have a friend or relative that has an interest in the night skies, this book would be the perfect gift - one that can be enjoyed over and over again.Beware, though.If you buy a copy for your nephew and take a look inside before wrapping it up, you'll have to get another copy for yourself, even if you previously had little interest in astronomy.It's that good.

A must have for any amateur astronomer
This book is packed full of stunning images thanks to the collaboration between Greg Parker and Noel Carboni, and proves what can be done with amateur equipment.The book itself is a very nice size, showing off each image in rich color on high quality paper.Having being privileged to see many of the images on the internet first via the Our Dark Skies astronomy discussion forum, I was extremely pleased to finally see them in print and found them to be even more splendid.This book does not disappoint and is an inspiration to anyone interested in astrophotography or amateur astronomy. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Product Description
In the last few years webcam astrophotography has exploded onto the astronomy scene. It has rapidly evolved from short exposure six-bit black-and-white imagery into long-exposure full-color 16-bit per channel imagery of such qualitythat it rivals conventional means of astrophotography. Indeed, webcams have become the method of choice for planetary imaging.The message of this book is that you too can participate in this revolution without spending very much money. You do not need to invest $10,000 in a CCD camera, telescope and software. A basic webcam costs about the same as a "so-so"eyepiece.Software to control the camera and process the images that will get you going is free. If you have the telescope (practically any telescope that will track) and a computer you are ready. Since you see your results instantly the learning curve is much shorter.Regardless of how you apply a webcam to astrophotography, you will derive a number of benefits. Working with them has been accurately described as interesting, challenging, and fulfilling.Webcams are capable of producing beautiful astrophotos that create a lasting record of your astronomical experience. The book will guide you into this fascinating topic and allow you tobecome a participant in this latest wave of astrophotography progress.About the Author: Nearly 50 years ago Robert Reeves began his astrophotography adventure with his parent's Voightlander 120-format camera. His first ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another Great Book from Reeves
Get your webcam out and go to work. This is a great introduction to webcam astrophotography. Basic principles that are covered protect this book from being outdated by equipment evolution. ... Read more

Product Description
Detailing the photographic equipment and astronomical instruments needed to capture celestial images, this guide shows how astrophotography can be accessible to all photographers. Included is a detailed introduction to basic astronomy with information on mapping the sky, locating celestial bodies, and planning an expedition to photograph astronomical phenomena. Photographers learn how to determine the color sensitivity of various films and achieve the best possible exposure, how to ensure a captivating composition, and how commercially processed prints can support their artistic vision. Whether photographers wish to capture deep sky or solar system subjects, the dual focus on photography and astronomy and the helpful sidebars and charts will ensure great images, enhanced creativity, and a greater appreciation of the night sky. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

More than meets the eye
Another dimension to photography is explored by Bert P. Krages.This book is intended to guide the reader on evolving their skills in astrophotography on an introductory level and fulfills this genre nicely.Photographing deep space objects such as galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae are not part of the scope of this book.The equipment needed for such projects can easily reach beyond the ten thousand dollar mark when you factor in a quality telescope, a ccd camera, adapter and motor drive; another book could be written on this alone.All chapters are based on photographic equipment almost all photographers already have, making this an appealing endeavor.
A brief lesson in astronomy is given since this knowledge is helpful in becoming more efficient, especially when tracking certain celestial objects.Equipment such as lenses are dissected and advantages and disadvantages are discussed.Film and filter selection and exposure have a chapter dedicated to them as does tracking techniques.Photography through a telescope is touched upon and insight is given for those looking to pursue this adventure.Overall, an informative book, well written and recommended.

Not for any Astrophotographer - Artists maybe !!!
If you are looking for a book that will teach you the essentials of astrophotography, or a book that will help you get those elusive images using a 35mm SLR, THEN THIS IS NOT IT.

Its amazing how misleading titles can be - this book talks about astrophotography but i have yet to be convinced, other than a lot of artistically composed fancy landscapes and mountains with some random astronomical object in the background you will find very few examples of real long exposure deep sky objects, nebulae or galaxies, or anything astronomically important.

This book is more about FANCY photography meeting astrophotography - a good example is page 12 where the image is supposed to be an example of a large angle view - well its large angle alright - a beautiful image of aferris wheel set in a carnival park the moon is somewhere in the distant background doing god knows what. The image on page 77 goes even better - a beautifully composed garbage dump with an overcast sky hiding the sun passes for "incorporating the sun into an image without a flare" - how ridiculous can you get.

CCD - forget it, it gets a bare mention, so does most of the current equipment, lenses adaptors etc - anything you would consider important like filters for polluted city sky's, or solar / lunar filters are perhaps "not artistically important" to mention.

A lot of the examples are astronomical rubbish and are just intended to look good - not reveal any astonomical phenomena or detail or techniques.

IF YOU WANT A BOOK ON ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY LOOK ELSEWHERE - if you are looking at artistic compositions for your nightly escapades you may consider this - one the whole A WASTE OF MONEY FOR THE SERIOUS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHER.

Heavenly Bodiesis Great!
This is an awesome book for anyone interested in learning about astrophotography.The book is easy to read and well laid out.The great thing about this book is it shows that anyone can do astrophotography without spending a lot of money on gear.It is full of information on how to get started, what you can use, how to plan for potential shots, etc.The author even included some well timed wit here and there.The photos in the book are very good and inspiring, especially the cover shot!This is a great book for any outdoor photographer whether you have ever considered doing this type of photography or not. ... Read more

Product Description

The CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) has revolutionised optical astronomy during the past 20 years, and specialised astronomical CCD cameras are now even more affordable, colour is standard, and they provide spectacular results.

Customer Reviews (5)

Good reference for particular imaging techniques
IMHO this book is much better than it is described by earlier reviewers. It is a compilation of articles and it must be understood that way. Readers that are looking for an introductory book may look elsewhere but for those who have at least a very basic idea of astrophotography may find this compilation very useful. Now in 2009, the articles may look outdated and a new verion of this book would be a valuable addition but in the meantime, it is worth having a look at. There are very good articles such as out-smarting light pollution, high resoltion ccd imaging, a brief description of Iris sftware by its developer and the wonderful hybird imaging article written by Robert Gendler who has, in my opinion, imaged the best Orion mosaic I have ever seen.
Bottom line, a must for astrophotographers but beginners should probably start with a book that is aimed at beginners.

Intro Astrophotography
I found that this book consists of a group of introduction essays that leave more questions unanswered then it answers. If you are looking for a good guide to astrophotography, look elsewhere. It does have nice pictures, however it is very unlikely that you would be able to produce such images on the just the information within the book.

Jon Bosley

Where's the beef?
I agree with other reviewers. There is a good section on imaging with CCD cameras but the other sections (Web cams, Digital SLRs) are weak. Not enough detail for the beginner that wants to get out and image. Too many photographs that don't provide substantial educational value. This is a multi-authored book and there is too much variability in the quality of the chapters. I own other books in PatrickMoore's series that I enjoyed, but this is not one of them.

Dissapointing
More like a small coffe table book than a comprehensive treatment of the subject.I expected more detail about How To and less glitsey pictures:Book is filled with " Here's a picture of...." and then a nice color photo. I'm returning this one.
Don

Covers a lot of ground
Let me start by saying - Do not make this your primary source for information on digital astrophotography. It has a ton of good info for a total beginner like me, but it also leaves out a lot on info.

It has a unique format in that each chapter has a different author (a claimed expert in each field). Some were much better than others. All chapters did a decent job of explaining the process of each kind of technology, but in almost all cases I was left with more questions than answers.

The book did give me a lot of ideas and areas to further research, but I was hoping when I bought it that it would give recommendations for type of equipment to buy and how to use it to get the best results.

BOTTOM LINE -- This book is a great source for info and ideas, just don't assume it will be your only source as it leaves a lot unexplained. ... Read more

Product Description
Many astronomers are unaware of how to obtain the best results from their telescopes. For those interested in photographing the Sun, Moon and planets, this volume provides the complete reference. This guide is packed with practical tips on how to obtain the highest resolution and provides a wealth of stunning images by the world's best amateurs, showing just what can be achieved. Individual chapters describe the various types of telescopes, the most suitable equipment to photograph a given subject, and recommend films and techniques in developing and printing. Also given are short biographies of key high resolution astrophotographers, both past and present, and an extensive bibliography of further reading. This guide provides both a wealth of sound, practical techniques and a unique portfolio of Solar System images--an inspiring handbook for any amateur astronomer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An excellent book of a bygone era...(10 years ago it would be 5 stars )
As Jean Dragesco says in the final conclusion in this book: "This book is quite probably the last to be devoted to high resolution obtained by the methods of photography". Oriented exclusively on film high resolution solar, lunar and planetary photography it's competely outdated. The info on seeing conditions, types of telescopes etc is excellent and still usefull though. The era of film planetary photography has passed... TP 2415 (the best film for planetary photography) has been out of production for years... from the film developers mentioned in the book Agfa Rodinal can't be found anymore, as Agfa has gone out of business. If you are interested to see how the old timers could achieve really impressive planetary photographs on film this book may be of interest to you, but the price of 75$ seems too high, if you want to take real high resolution images yourself by modern means (I don't use the word photographs)look elsewhere.

Better than advertised
The book was virtually new; better than described. Sent quickly. Would certainly buy from this dealer again!

MR. DRAGESCO, THIS BOOK IS FANTASTIC
ANYONE WHO IS THINKING OF BUYING A TELESCOPE WOULD BE WISE TO READ WHAT I CALL THE BIBLE OF TELESCOPE BOOKS. MR. DRAGESCO GOES INTO DETAIL ABOUT WHY HE FEELS THAT CERTAIN TELESCOPES ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS. ALSO THIS BOOKGOES INTO DETAIL ABOUT PROCESSING PICTURES AND HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OFYOUR PICTURES. I JUST CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD ABOUT THIS BOOK AND HOW ITHELPED ME MAKE A WISE BUYING DECISION BEFORE I BOUGHT MY TELESCOPE. MR.DRAGESCO WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE ANOTHER GREAT BOOK? KEEP UP THE GREATWORK,,,,GEOFF NASH ... Read more

Product Description
Almost all amateur astronomers want to take photographs of the night sky. For all but the simplest star-trail pictures, this involves machinery - a telescope drive - to track the stars, essential to compensate for the rotation of the earth. The task becomes even more complicated when photographing very small or very faint objects that require high magnification or very long exposure times. Amateurs have many options according to their requirements, technical ability, and budget. Astrophotography for Amateurs looks at all the possibilities, including normal ("wet") photography, CCD imaging, and modern techniques of computer enhancement. There are sections about photographing different classes of astronomical object from the Moon to faint nebulae, as well as a thorough look at the equipment needed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not for digitals
Contrary to other reviews, this has nothing more than a paragraph here and there for digital SLR cameras.

General astrophotography info.Very general.

A good compliment to other Astrophotography texts
This book I feel takes up topics that Michael Covington's "Astrophotography for the Amatuer" and Robert Reeve's "Wide-Field Astrophotography" leave off. The two afore-mentioned texts deal with the techniques, exposure times and equipment for astrophotography more deeply. "Practical Astrophotography" as the title suggests deals better with practical considerations: what to pack on you field trips, what you need for those foreign excursions, etc. This is what sets this book aside from the others. Sure, Jeffery Charles covers the basic techniques very competently, also, but doesn't go as deeply as the other two books. And he concentrates on film photography only.

Good starting book
Good book to start with, especially with its tables of exposures and detailed background technical info on optics & photography. Good descriptions of simplified focal length, exposure, magnification and other calculations.

Absolutely no information on CCD photography.

The layout of the book is not very good for applying step-by-step approach for beginners, the process is mixed in with descriptions of technical background.

Good starting book
Good book to start with, especially with its tables of exposures and detailed background technical info on optics & photography. Good descriptions of simplified focal length, exposure, magnification and other calculations.

Absolutely no information on CCD photography.

The layout of the book is not very good for applying step-by-step approach for beginners, the process is mixed in with descriptions of technical background.

Joy of star-gazing
It has been 2 years since I was into astronomy. This is a book which talks much about astronomical photography. I enjoy the content in here because itis so useful when you take out a telescope, enjoying the delight of starstwinkling... I am 16 in Taiwan, a boy who likes astronomy best. I hope Ican read far more books as I want. Hope you enjoy the pleasure to stare atthe very true universe of our own! ... Read more

Product Description
Astronomy buffs often wish they could photograph what they see through their telescopes. Camera buffs often wish they knew the techniques for capturing majestic yet elusive heavenly bodies. Astrophotography brings these two hobbies together in one complete resource.

This big, fully-illustrated book offers:
- Practical guidance and authoritative advice
- Equipment resources and contacts
- Brand-new star charts and illustrations
- Techniques for conventional and digital photography

Step-by-step instructions are given for choosing and using the right camera, shooting with a telescope, getting the best out of black and white and color film, and developing pictures at home or while traveling.

Specific instructions are given for photographing:

- The Sun, the Moon and the planets
- Meteors and comets
- Stars and satellites
- Rainbows, halos, and other phenomena in the night sky

This new edition also includes the latest information for shooting digital and dedicated astro CCDs (charge-coupled device) for capturing faint nebulae and distant galaxies. Generously illustrated with 100 color and black and white photographs, Astrophotography is an attractive and easy-to-use reference. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Awesome Purchase!!!
When I found this item online I was thrilled, because the bookstores either couldn't get it or wanted an obscene price for it. When I saw it here I was shocked, especially at these prices. I was even more suprised when I saw that these prices were for new books. When the book arrived, it was in factory new condition and I couldn't have been happier. From now on I will look here first! I'm going to save the time and gas and just order from here!

Greg

Sadly very out of date
I agree. I bought this book with the hope that it might reflect much of the newer technology relating to astrophotography today like the Canon 350D and several other digital SLR brands but it is sadly focused on film photography which, in itself, is still a relevant medium but increasingly declining. For those who may be interested in film based photography this book offers a lot.

Book is outdated
The title is misleading. 95% of this book is geared toward film photography. Less than 20 pages way in the back talk about CCD imaging. Save your money and buy a book that covers more current technology. This book does cover the basic principles of astrophotography, but any good more recent book will cover the same. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Digital Astrophotography
Book was marked up inside and not in the as new condition listed on the site.

Good for Astrophotography basics
A good book for the basics of astrophotography but not a lot of help for the CCD camera.

Astrophotography with Reeves
If you are thinking of trying astrophotography, this is an excellent place to start. Reeves covers the basics of using inexpensive webcams to produce great images with modest telescopes and the basics of using digital cameras (both DSLR and fixed lens) with or without a telescope. I have used a variety of his techniques and they work. For example, using a inexpensive Canon A60 to produce better moon photos than I could achieve in the old film days and taking constellation photos in less than 30 seconds with a DSLR on a tripod. If you follow the webcam instructions you will be amazed at the results. Reeves covers all the basics and covers them very well indeed. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume shows how to take successful pictures of the heavens, taking a primarily photographic perspective, and evaluates available types of camera and film, developing techniques, and the best methods of photographing the Moon, the Sun, stars, comets, meteors and planets, including basic photography through a telescope. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Book
I'am happy to comment on what a great book this is, I just wish I would have read it earlier. For those of you who are new at Astrophotography this is a great book its simple to read and is very well written.I have readother astrophotography books but this book I really like. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Delightful and informative
This is a fun little book. The author was a field technical manager for Bausch & Lomb, as well as being a lecturer on astrophotography at the Hayden Planetarium in New York. Of course, being written in 1986 it deals with film cameras, but the tricky part about astrophotography is setting up the telescope and tracking techniques. This is all explained very clearly and you can read this book in a single sitting.

There's a nice forward by Isaac Asimov and tons of good (and bad!) photographs. Finally we have a book with photo captions like "kicked the tripod on this shot", what a relief from all the Hubble images other books keep sneaking in.

If you can locate a copy of this little book, get it. ... Read more

Product Description

This book is based around the author’s beautiful and sometimes awe-inspiring color images and mosaics of deep-sky objects.

The images were used as the basis of a public exhibition held at the University of Southampton (Summer 2006), attended by the press, local radio and TV interviewers as well as the public. The book describes how similar images can be created by amateur astronomers, using commercially available telescopes and CCD cameras. Subsequent processing and image enhancement in the “electronic darkroom” is covered in detail as well.

Not everybody can afford the biggest and best telescopes and CCD cameras, so a range of telescopes and equipment is considered, from the author’s 11-inch with Hyperstar camera, down to more affordable instruments.

Appendices provide links to free software – not available from a single source – and are themselves an invaluable resource.

Customer Reviews (3)

Fortunately I bought it cheaply
This book meanders around, often repetitively without coming to grips with any real detail.I also found the author's writing style quite irritating.He loves exclamation marks!Often two or three stacked together!! Even when he makes the most bland statements!!! Such as "thank you Noel!!!"

The author clearly does not understand the relationship between noise and the number of subexposures. On page 33 he states (correctly) that the noise goes down as "something like" the square root of the number of subs. In other words 100 subs of equal exposure stacked together will have one tenth of the noise of one sub. However this is not an absolute: the length of the exposure is also important. The author states that a disadvantage of longer exposures is that you will have fewer of them and hence more noise than lots of shorter exposures.This is nonsense. Twenty exposures of 5 minutes will have a lot less noise than 100 exposures of 1 minute. Shot noise in both will be approximately the same, since the total exposure is the same (100 minutes).However, read noise for the 100 exposures will be greater, since there are 100 reads as opposed to 20.One would expect the total noise in the stack of 100 to be sqrt(5) times more than in the stack of 20. The subject of noise is well discussed in the book "Astronomical Image Processing" by Berry and Burnell

The author is also a little confused about "fast" and "slow" telescopes.On Page 21 he states that "Light grabbing power is all about aperture.."On Page 25, after discussing the fact that a large aperture refractor probably needs a permanent setup, he goes on to state that "Of course you can use smaller aperture refractors for imaging, but you will by necessity be using a 'slow' system..."To me this suggests that he is implying that speed is a function of aperture.He then contradicts this on page 35 where he states that "..the Hubble space telescope with a 2-metre diameter mirror..is very much slower than my Sky 90 3.5" refractor..."The problem is that when astroimaging, the whole system must be considered.It makes no sense to talk of a "fast" telescope in isolation.It does make sense to say that one telescope/camera combination is faster than another telescope/camera combination.For instance an f10 telescope matched with a camera whose pixel size delivers 2 arc sec per pixel will be 4 x faster than an f5 telescope of the same aperture matched with a camera whose pixel size delivers 1 arc sec per pixel, because in the second case, each pixel receives only a quarter of the light than in the first case. This is why we can speed up exposures by binning.Binning 2 x 2 effectively halves the focal ratio of a telescope.You get the same image scale, speed and resolution that you would get from a telescope of half the focal ratio and the same aperture.Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch.You also get half the field of view, but since most DSOs occupy only the central field, this is often not important.

The book is really about "My trials and errors in astroimaging".While some personal reflections are often of interest, it is my opinion that the author overdoes the personal reflections aspect.

The pictures in Chapter 11 are the best part of the book, but in themselves do not make the purchase of the book worthwhile.Chapter 12 ("Differentiating your work") also contains some good advice.All in all, I cannot recommend purchasing this book.

Saved me a pile of money.
I was all set on purchasing a CCD camera for my Celestron C14. After much research I was going to go with the Hyper-Star camera. After reading this book I saw that this choice would be fraught with technical problems more suited to a professional or highly neurotic astro-photographer. Just contemplating trying to focus the Hyper Star camera with a tolerance of microns made my choice plain. I wasn't going to spend thousands on a camera only useable on one telescope. This book more than paid for itself.

As far as the other data in the book, I glossed over the author's pet products. I also appreciated the fine photos even being in such a small format book.

I made the wrong decision
This book does contain some very beautiful DSO images, but other than that it is a unfortunate disappointment to me. Not only because the 'Affordable' here in this book seems not too affordable - at least to me I'd consider a Stellarvue 80ED is much more affordable than Tak Sky90. Some impression I got from this book was unless you have a Tak 90 otherwise you won't get DSO pictures even close to the author had produced.
Maybe you found this book is good for you, but I did not. Sorry.
... Read more

Product Description
This book on CD-ROM explains how you can get started taking beautiful astrophotos with your DSLR camera. By using simple and easy techniques that anyone can learn, the author shows you how easy it is to take great pictures with modest equipment, even if you don't know anything about astronomy or astrophotography. Demonstrations will show you how to get the best out of the equipment that you may already have. The book explains concepts and techniques in short, easy-to-understand sections that are each devoted to just one aspect of the subject. Check out the detailed table of contents to see what is covered.With this book you will discover how easy it is to:* Take beautiful astrophotos with just a simple camera on tripod.* Shoot the Sun, Moon, stars, nebulas, and galaxies. * Learn how to take time exposures on a simple, homemade, barn-door tracker. * Use your DSLR camera to shoot through your telescope. * Determine the correct exposure to use. * Focus your camera for razor-sharp images. * Crop and rotate your images. * Resize and resample. * Perform brightness, contrast and color correction. * Diagnose and correct problems and mistakes. You will learn how to use your camera in manual mode and all of the correct settings to use for astrophotography, as well as easy ways to focus and how to determine the correct exposure to get great pictures.After you have mastered the basics, you'll find out how easy it is to get started with more advanced techniques such as stacking and dark-frame subtraction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

could be alot better
great info,hard to get at it. This would
be alot better if it was paper back.....
I bought another book on the same subject
and i much rather read it.
I should have returned it,but i might print
some of the info on paper.

Excellent Source for Beginners
I was a bit hesitant about purchasing a "book on CD".It just seemed strange.However, there are concepts and examples on this CD that the author needs to convey and it can't be done with the printed page.This "book" is indeed one of the best references I've come across for those who want to start in astrophotography.It assumes you know nothing about astronomy, yet gives you the basics of the subject BEFORE you are given the basics of astrophotography.He includes links to vendors (which if you have an Internet connection while reading the book is quite useful).When it's all said-and-done, if you want to start out in astrophotography this book-on-CD is worth every penny.You will NOT be disappointed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Takes the guesswork out of astrophotography
This book is really a gem.While it covers all aspects of astrophotography, including equipment, film, etc..., its real strength and main focus is determining exposure.Most other books I've examined areweak on this point.They give fairly vague rules of thumb and tell you tobracket exposures to make sure you get a good result.This book doesn't dothat.

Gordon has developed an extremely precise system for determiningwhat exposure time is required for a given lens, a given aperture (f-stop),and a given astronomical object.I've used the system several times and ithas always produced a perfect exposure the FIRST time, with no bracketingrequired (at first, I did bracket -- being a suspicious type, but thesuggested exposure was always the best of the bracketed group, so Istopped).

The easiest and best way to use the book's system is to checkwith your lens manufacturer to see at what aperture it gives the bestoptical performance (i.e. least chromatic aberration, least distortion, andbest resolution), then use the fx system to determine, for the magnitude ofthe object you want to photograph, what the properexposure time is forthat aperture.

If you're serious about astrophotography, and especiallyif you're just starting out and don't want to learn "rules ofthumb" the hard way (by trial and lots of error), buy this book! It'll save you lots of wasted film and missed shots. ... Read more