The Art of Astrophotography

Ian Morison is Emeritus Gresham Professor of Astronomy at the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory. In addition to his academic credentials, he is a lifelong amateur astronomer, a founding member and patron of Macclesfield Astronomy Society and a past president of the UK's Society for Popular Astronomy, one of the country's largest amateur astronomy organisations. He has written four previous popular astronomy books, as well as an undergraduate astronomy textbook.

'The significant developments in the optics of both telescopes and cameras, coupled with powerful imaging programs now commercially available, mean that amateur astronomers can make remarkable images of astronomical objects … [The book] provides an excellent guide to the techniques involved. The emphasis in the text is on the various imaging processes one might use, but there are sufficient details about the instrumentation … a beginner will be comfortable in selecting a telescope, or a camera, to suit the goals. Instructions are given in detail, with procedures outlined in step-by-step explanations that even include specific mention of control buttons on a laptop screen. Typically, each chapter focuses on the photography of one type of object (e.g., the moon, nebulae in the Milky Way, or neighboring galaxies) because each object requires a slightly different technique. The illustrations are effectively coordinated with the text, and the final illustration in each chapter is usually extraordinary.' D. E. Hogg, CHOICE

• 1. Imaging star trails; 2. Imaging a constellation with a DSLR and tripod; 3. Imaging the Milky Way with a DSLR and tracking mount; 4. Imaging the Moon with a compact camera or smartphone; 5. Imaging the Moon with a DSLR; 6. Imaging the Pleiades Cluster with a DSLR and small refractor; 7. Imaging the Orion Nebula, M42, with a modified Canon DSLR; 8. Telescopes and their accessories for use in astroimaging; 9. Towards stellar excellence; 10. Cooling a DSLR camera to reduce sensor noise; 11. Imaging the North American and Pelican Nebulae; 12. Combating light pollution - the bane of astrophotographers; 13. Imaging planets with an astronomical video camera or Canon DSLR; 14. Video imaging the Moon with a webcam or DSLR; 15. Imaging the Sun in white light; 16. Imaging the Sun in the light of its H-alpha emission; 17. Imaging meteors; 18. Imaging comets; 19. Using a cooled 'one shot colour' camera; 20. Using a cooled monochrome CCD camera; 21. LRGB colour imaging; 22. Narrow band colour imaging; Appendix A. Telescopes for imaging; Appendix B. Telescope mounts; Appendix C. The effects of the atmosphere; Appendix D. Auto guiding; Appendix E. Image calibration; Appendix F. Practical aspects of astroimaging.