Table of Contents

Introduction.- Short Review of Astronomy Basics.- Planetary and Lunar Imaging.- Very Short Exposure Astrophotography.- Computers.- Lightweight Altzimuth and Equatorial Mount Economics.- Altazimuth Astrophotography System.- Chapter 8: Astrophotography with a Lightweight Equatorial Mount.- Piggy-back Photography.- Astrophotography in Light-polluted Urban Areas.- DeepSky Stacker.- Processing Very Short Exposures.- Objects in the Night Sky to Photograph.- Portable Observatories.- How to Get 45 to 90 Second Exposures with a 4/5SE Mount.- How to Strengthen Tripods.- Index.

About the Author

An American by birth, Joe Ashley currently lives in Greece. His career in the U. S. Navy included the recovery of astronauts Conrad and Cooper and their Gemini V spaceship from the sea; from there he began an engineering and research career (probably only possible at that time in history) involving submarine noise, chemical warfare defense, and energy conservation. Along the way, he obtained a doctorate in Public Administration. Now retired, he completed his career as the Program Manager for the U. S. Department of the Navy and Marine Corps Energy Conservation Program. Recently, Ashley has participated in on-line astronomy forums, primarily the Stargazers Lounge and The Astronomy Forum. In late 2009 he became a moderator on The Astronomy Forum, the world's largest (based upon membership). Parallel with that, he pitched into what he calls "the dark side of astronomy" - astrophotography - concentrating on getting the best possible images from simple lightweight equipment.