Astrophotography for the Amateur

by Michael A. Covington

Book Overview

First published in 1999, this much expanded and updated edition of the best-selling handbook 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. In this new edition, the book has been completely revised and now includes new chapters on computer image processing and CCD imaging; expanded advice...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521627400
• ISBN13: 9780521627405
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 1.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

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!

An excellent resource for both novices and pros

Although photography has been a hobby of mine for years, I recently became interested in astronomy. I bought this book to learn how to combine these two hobbies. This is an excellent resource. If you're just starting out, this book covers the basics and explains things that even a novice like me can understand. As your skill level advances this book will continue to be an excellent resource. It is filled with detailed technical information on scopes, mounts, lenses, films, techniques and just about anything you need to know on this subject. I agree with other reviewers that the book does not cover CCD photography in depth. CCD hardware/software seems to be changing at such a rapid pace. It would be difficult to write a detailed text on this subject that would not be out of date in a couple of years.Overall, I rate this book very highly and recommend if for both novices and pros.

Astrophotography for the Amateur

Michael Covington writes a great read. He has a flow to his style of writing that makes it easy to get lost in the imagery. I started reading and found I couldn't put this book down. From the rank beginner to the accomplished pro. This book is the standard to which all other books on this topic will be compared in the future. There is no stone left unturned. I even gave copies to a couple of good friends as gift's. Anyone in the astronomy endeavor will enjoy finding this great book under their tree even in July.