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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #296647 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 196 pages

Review
"In this book, US amateur Adam Stuart struts his stuff by turning his personal experiences … into a full-length book. What I especially liked is that the author goes to great lengths to show what a variety of instruments can do … . Stuart does a really nice job presenting astrophotography … I for one found many of his tips and suggestions to be invaluable. The best feature of this book is … high-quality colour images … . the author must truly be congratulated!" --Neil English, Astronomy Now, March, 2007

colour images ... . the author must truly be congratulated!" (Neil English, Astronomy Now, March, 2007) "Adam Stuart s book is a practical, enthusiastic, hands-on tale of the numerous challenges he faced and overcame during the construction of a home observatory under the light-polluted skies of southern Florida." --David Malin, Australian Physics, Vol. 43 (5), 2006

About the Author
Adam Stuart is a medical doctor, and of course an experienced amateur astronomer.

Customer Reviews

One man's story - not much use to anyone else!
I bought this book expecting to learn how to take decent images using my small refractor, having finished the book I've learned pretty much NOTHING about imaging, but plenty about the author's observatory. Which isn't really a heck of a lot of use to me.
So he bought X type observatory - oh the door wouldn't open at certain times, so he had that modified. He has THIS type of computer, bought from THESE people. Big deal, how about some info on how to use my camera?!
I also found it a big rip off that a sizeable portion of the book is taken up by the author's astrophotos - many of which are pretty poor quality to my amateur eyes (blurred, unfocused moon shots in particular).
Overall, if you want to learn how to take CCD pictures through a telescope, this book is an overpriced waste of time. If you want to read about how some guy spent a fortune buying cool toys to play with, where he bought them and what sort of trunking he used to run the wires into his garden, this is for you.

Rip off
Total waste of money, this story is for a web page not a book. All summaries suggest this tells you how to get images in the city. It does not help you do this in any way.
Half the book is just poor quality images, the rest is a story of some guy setting up an observatory in his back yard.
Total waste of time and money.

A much underestimated book
I tend not to agree with the other reviewers here. This book is well written and although I agree that it is mostly descriptive of the author's set-up, I think the intention was to inspire and plant ideas rather than provide an instruction manual. No two observatories will be the same, each with its own unique mix of equipment and layout, tailored to the individual user's tastes, budget and interests. This book delivers and I for one found it an enjoyable read which gave me many ideas and pointers for my own observatory project.