Information

There are a lot of open source resources out there for Astrophotography, many of which are completely free (Donations are gladly accepted).

Below are some of the free software that we have used very successfully over the years: -

https://nebulosity.software.informer.com/ Nebulosity was my first Astrophotography software, it’s a very capable free to download and easy to use great way to get the taste for this amazing hobby, it also gives you a more hands on approach, which is a good way to understand your gear.

https://www.zwoastro.com/products/asistudio This is ZWO’s suite of free software, from capture to basic processing, it’s a limited system but would certainly be good for a first and not to complicated way in.

https://nighttime-imaging.eu/ N.I.N.A This is a very serious and super capable piece of free software, this has all the functionality of the big players in the capture market, it will control all your gear, sequences, safety, Observatory etc. definitely a software to move from the beginner level into serious Astrophotography.

https://openphdguiding.org/downloads/ PHD2 Another great free piece of software, probably the most used guiding software out there, been around a long time and is under constant development, integrates with pretty much any mount.

https://stellarium.org/ A great planetarium, very easy to use and has the unique real world view, a great way to plan your imaging sessions, very easy to input your own horizon which makes it even better.

https://patriotastro.com/ Chad, is a must if you are thinking about going down the NINA route, his YouTube tutorials are very well done, informative and easy listening, his website is full of useful information.

Here are a few of the many paid Astrophotography programs out there, we have added these as they are ones that we use, so can comment from a user point of view.

https://pixinsight.com/ Pixinsight has become the Daddy in the world of astro data processing, it’s a one stop shop from pixels to picture.

Its pretty much the go to software, a little daunting at first look… but. aren’t they all at first look! It takes a lot of research and practice, but the rewards are huge.

https://www.sequencegeneratorpro.com/sgpro/ SGPro has been around for quite a few years now and is one of the tried and tested complete capture software’s, its one that we have been using here for years and is a very reliable piece of software, there is a fair bit of setting up, but once done its pretty intuitive.

https://software.starkeeper.it/ Voyager, A relatively new piece of capture software, this is another one stop control shop and has a few more modules that maybe of interest, depending on the level of hands-off operation you want, an exciting addition to the capture way of life.

There are many shops and websites available to use, of which over the years we have used many, some have provided a good service and some… not so! We have listed the one that we now use as our recommended supplier, based on our own and our customers experience.

First Light Optics are our go to supplier for all your astro needs, visual and astrophotography, they have a wealth of knowledge and service that’s great, their website is very informative and has live stock levels, no more getting all excited about a new toy, only to find its not in stock!

Forums are a great place to meet new like-minded people, there is a wealth of information about processes and gear, and a great place to go… just for a chat!

Another great source of information is Facebook, there is pretty much a group on there for all the different bits of equipment, Mounts, Cameras, software etc.

https://stargazerslounge.com/ A forum that’s full of knowledge and information, a great place to chat about gear and to get answers to problems you may be having.

https://www.cloudynights.com Another forum that has been around a long time, again… a place to chat, meet new friends and find answers!

https://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php A great place to find any info on Pixinsight, this is a program that gets regular updates and they get announced on here.

Inspiration

https://www.swagastro.com/ Sara Wager, A good friend and was once upon a time a prolific imager, her website is full of useful information and contains many a beautiful picture of the cosmos and how to achieve them.

https://www.adamblockstudios.com/ Adam Block, If your using, and most astroimagers do end up using, Pixinsight for your image processing, then Adam is your man! He is the Pixinsight Ninja! His website and YouTube tutorials are full of everything you need to know about processing.