Hi again Russell,
We all aim for that obsession dob
.
Have you seen the book
"Imaging the Southern Sky" by Ian Cooper (*cough* *cough* our fellow IIS-er
) & Stephen Chadwick?
The forum thread is
here. Ian talks about the book on this thread.
The web page for the book is
here.
"If you're looking for a handy reference guide to help you image and explore the many splendors of the southern sky, Imaging the Southern Sky is the book for you. The work features not only stunning color images, all taken by Stephen Chadwick, of the best galaxies, nebulae, and clusters available to astrophotographers, but also lesser-known objects, some of which have gone largely unexplored! Beginners and experienced observers alike should appreciate the book's remarkable imagery and simple text, which provides concise and accurate information on each object and its epoch 2000.0 position, and also expert testimony on its visual nature. Each object essay also includes a section on technical information that should help astrophotographers in their planning, including telescope aperture, focal length and ratio, camera used, exposure times, and field size. As a charming bonus, the authors have taken the liberty to name many of the lesser-known objects to reflect their New Zealand heritage. Constellation by constellation, from Apus to Volans, Imaging the Southern Sky explores the night sky in a way that should appeal to sky lovers of all ages." - Stephen J. O'Meara, Astronomy.
I have it & it's a fantastic, easy to follow guide- a really great teaching aid for starting out. Every object has a picture followed by a visual observing report plus a guide on how to take the image & what settings to use. Hubby is the one that likes the photography & I love visual so this book is awesome, tho we aren't to that level of imaging yet.
I get a bit excited talking about books as I love them so much, so forgive me if I waffle on a bit when it comes to that subject.
I wish I had my own astro book club where I can pretend to be like Oprah in her book club
.
I feel so blessed to have this book signed with a lovely note sent to me by Ian himself; it's one of my treasured books.