Scientific Astrophotography:
How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data
by Gerald R. Hubbell
Springer, 2012, 333 pages

This book promises to help intermediate-level amateur astrophotographers make observations that actually provide useful scientific information, while at the same time delaying as long as possible the twin perils of amateur astronomers: bankruptcy and death by sleep deprivation.

We aren't talking wobbly department store refractors and point-and-shoot cameras here. If you want to collect reliable data, Hubbell recommends as a minimum an astrograph and a professional 16-bit CCD camera. Hubbell (no relation to 'Ed') advises readers to obtain new equipment only when the experiment demands it. Selecting the right equipment depends on your scientific goals, and this book helps the reader to decide rationally what equipment you need. There's lots of accurate technical information that every amateur needs to know about imaging and equipment for astrophotography, presented in an well written format, and nicely published by Springer.

Later chapters include brief discussions of photometry and spectroscopy, and sections on image calibration and data analysis. For readers coming from engineering, where nothing is done without a written documented procedure, a bunch of SOPs are included.

The focus is entirely on equipment, image analysis, and data analysis. Hubbell doesn't provide any suggestions about what kinds of experiments might be appropriate for an enthusiastic amateur with a brand new eight-incher. An introductory book like this won't turn anyone into an astrophysicist. (See here for some books that will.) But you still need equipment to get good data, and for that this book is a good step in the right direction.

dec 15, 2012

Astrophotography for the Amateur, 2nd ed.
by Michael A. Covington
Cambridge, 1999

his book has been around for years. It's finally been updated to include information on digital cameras, but still contains a lot of stuff about film. But let's face it: film is obsolete. CCDs (and even some high-end CMOS chips) have higher dynamic range, greater light sensitivity, and much better efficiency in the red than film. Almost no professional astronomer uses film anymore.

The other unique feature of this book is the dreadful quality of the photographs, which are all grayscale and mostly blurry. The exception is a few color plates in the middle of the book, which are of good quality. Aspiring astrophotographers will find the poor quality of Covington's images discouraging: if this is the best they can expect, even with an expensive 16-inch SCT, they might reason, better forget astrophotography altogether. However, it's possible that Covington may just be using a bad camera, or maybe he has vision problems--even the photographs of earthly objects, such as his darkroom and his lenses, are blurry. Covington undoubtedly has considerable knowledge of photography, but the bad photos like his blurry grayscale photograph of a sunset at the beach on page 165 undermine the reader's confidence in what he writes. One good feature of this book is that unlike The Backyard Astronomer's Guide, Covington documents the telescope and exposure conditions for some of the photos. He also provides lots of sage advice. But unless you want to risk losing interest in astrophotography, I recommend reading his more recent book titled Digital SLR Astrophotography.

Digital Astrophotography
by Stefan Seip
Rockynook, 2009

his short book has lots of pretty pictures and step-by-step advice for beginners who want to take “amazing pictures” of the stars using a dSLR, webcam, or dedicated CCD camera. Even the most basic steps are not overlooked: Step #1 for webcams is “aim at the planet.” (Smack! No wonder!) The author's advice about cameras and images is mostly accurate and helpful for beginners, but telescope-related details like how to precisely align your mount (the most critical step in astrophotography) are omitted. Contrary to what you might have heard, just pointing it at Polaris is not always good enough.

Some of the advice is questionable, like using PhotoShop to adulterate your images, and making a cross of “sticky tape”, as it's called in England, and placing it in front of the telescope to create a fake diffraction pattern. The writing may not have much technical detail, but it's highly readable and covers most of the important details beginners need to know.

Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs
Ken M. Harrison
Springer, 2011

moved to here

Astronomy Hacks
Tips & Tools for Observing the Night Sky by Thompson & Thompson
O'Reilly, 2005, 388 pages

ntroduction to elementary optical astronomy for amateurs. The word “hacks” is misused in this book--these are not hacks, just general advice for beginners. Observing skills and planning are important, say the authors. Planning for a Messier Marathon, the Eiger of amateur astronomers, takes extreme planning skill. There are numerous tips, some useful, some stupid, but all educational, on tuning your telescope and adding techno-bling to make finding things easier. As for the perennial question of beginners--which telescope to buy--the authors are emphatic: get a Dob, along with an extremely tall chair. And lots of towels, blankets, mittens, and other rugged outdoor adventure gear. Has grayscale photos and better quality printing than usual for an O'Reilly book.