More Imaging Stuff for people new to Imaging

More Imaging Stuff for people new to Imaging

* denotes MUST READ pages or sites

COLLIMATION:

This is VERY important for those with mirrors

Thierry Legault's page -
http://legault.club.fr/collim.html

However, people with refractors should also check to see if they have pinched optics

See this link to see what it might look like :
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/EducationST.html

Check out Mike Swanson's site
http://www.nexstarsite.com/OddsEnds.htm

WEBCAM IMAGING:

a nice introduction and discussion, including lunar mosaics
http://www.robertreeves.com/webcam.htm

* Jan Timmerman's Guides http://www.firmament.tk/ - enter
the site and pretty much READ EVERYTHING ;-)
it will provide intro guides, processing tutorials and links to free/cheap software

BUDGET CAMERA IMAGING:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/holtnet/astrodigcam/index.htm

DIGITAL CAMERA IMAGING:

Digital Camera FAQ
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze4r2c2/Astro/AstroDigiCamFAQ.html

FILM:

Calculators http://www.analemma.de/english/download.html

VIDEO ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY:

Start here and follow the links
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/canterbury/222/astrovid.htm

WIDE FIELD ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY:

Robert Reeve's Film Guide
http://www.robertreeves.com/class.htm

FIELD ROTATION CONSIDERATIONS:

Spreadsheet from Mark Christensen
http://www.fvastro.org/presentations/FieldRotation.htm

Another look at it http://www.ghg.net/cshaw/guiderot.htm

Shorter focal lengths will show less field rotation and can do longer ALTAZ exposures than longer focal lengths however in most cases your real limitation will be tracking and not rotation (except perhaps in piggy back imaging)

FIELD OF VIEW:

Ron Wodaski's Calculator
http://www.wodaski.com/wodaski/pick_a_camera.htm

IMAGE PROCESSING:

Ron Wodaski's page has some tutorials
http://www.wodaski.com/wodaski/default.asp
* Jerry Lodriguss' site has everything
http://www.astropix.com/INDEX.HTM
(plus see Jan Timmerman's Firmament site listed under Webcam imaging)

Al Kelly's Intro http://www.ghg.net/akelly/procccd.htm

K3CCD Tools Tutorial
http://home.online.no/~arnholm/astro/deepsky/K3CCDTools/tut1/

Paint Shop Pro (with Meade DSI) http://www.waid-observatory.com/tutorial/psp-tutorial.html

The key is to remember that techniques apply no matter what software or camera you are using.

Holy Cow! This is a long link but it has a lot of links to different processing tutorials

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/199202/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

FINE EXAMPLES:

NexStar 4 (and baby NexStarians in general) should visit Stéphane Poirier's page as he's done both imaging at prime focus and piggy back
http://astrosurf.com/n4/ clicking on the yellow links w/each image gives how it was captured

NexStar 5/8 people should check this page of images out --
http://www.astrosurf.com/remy

If a 10 year old can do it...
http://www.eaas.co.uk/gallery/gault_astrophotography.html

Don't forget to look at our own Gallery
http://www.buyastrostuff.com/dons/

HOME MADE PIGGY BACK BRACKETS (for those who don't want to buy)

http://www.nabu.net/astro/piggy.htm
http://www.weasner.com/etx/techtips/piggyback.html

ALSO - Don't forget how "seeing" will help or hurt you. The longer your focal length, the more susceptible to seeing problems you are. If you can get your focal length down to 400-800mm you'll find it easier to image even in poor seeing.

Home