Very good for image acquisition, image stacking and for subsequent image processing.
Quite inexpensive and may be purchased directly from the above web site.
One particularly good feature is the inclusion of a large number of videos which will run on your PC and which will show you exactly how to do any one of a number of image processing activities. The videos include sound i.e. Mike Unsold talks as he leads you through each example.
The program also will drive a number of digital SLR cameras and web cams via a custom cable so that a large number of automated exposures may be made. The only limitation is (as far as I am aware) the software does not have autoguiding capabilities.
MaxImDL is a much more powerful image acquisition package than Images Plus. It supports DLSRs, webcams, and cooled cameras from a range of manufacturers. It has very sophisticated autoguiding capabilities i.e. it will interface simultaneously to two digital imaging devices and also to a range of computerized telescope mounts. One imager is used to track a guide star and send positional corrections to the telescope mount and the other imager takes the actual astro images. Guiding requires two telescopes piggybacked onto the one mount.
MaxDSLR is a cut-back version of MaxImDL. It is less expensive but is limited to use with DSLRs.
MaxImDLs image processing software is powerful but not so user-friendly as Images Plus.
The software is relatively user friendly but not nearly as powerful as Images Plus or MaxIm DL. It is however an easy and economical way to get started in astro imaging. It includes a planetarium program, an interface to a Meade DSI or LPI imager, image stacking and image processing capabilities.
This is probably the most sophisticated PC based imaging program.
It is relatively expensive and it takes a long time to learn to use its full capabilities.
Photoshop CS2 is clearly preferred over the earlier Photoshop versions because of its ability to process 16-bit file formats (early versions of Photoshop were limited to 8-bit file format for most of its operations). Image processing generally involves operating over a wide dynamic range of image brightness (more than can be addressed by 8-bit images except in the final processing stages).
Photoshop is weak in the area of image stacking and alignment (tasks handled with easy by Images Plus and MaxIm) but is unequalled when it comes to the subsequent steps involved in image processing.
Most astro imagers use Photoshop or Photoshop CS2 when processing their images.
This book may be purchased directly from Ron Wodaski’s web site.
The book covers the whole field of astro imaging. It discusses the relative strengths and weaknesses of a variety of telescope types and sizes as well as of telescope mounts. It gives an overview of astro imaging theory and of image processing theory.
In my view this is the best overall introductory text for prospective astro imagers. It was released in 2002 and is very slightly dated. It also focuses exclusively on cooled CCD cameras and does not cover web cams or DSLR cameras.
This book may be ordered directly over the web from the publisher.
The book covers much the same ground as “The new CCD Astronomy” but is more recent and also covers DSLRs and web cams.
It goes into more depth in the theory of image processing algorithms.
It is a very good text.
This book is very new and focuses on image processing using Photoshop (especially Photoshop CS2). It contains many good ideas and tips. It is probably best purchased as a sequel to purchase of Ron’s earlier text “The New CCD Astronomy”.
This book gives many image processing examples based on the use of Adobe Photoshop.
It covers much the same ground as Ron Wodaski’s new “The New Astro Zone System for Astro Imaging.
I personally prefer Wodaski’s text book but it is largely a matter of personal preference.
This is a “book” which is published on CD/DVD. It is not available in hard-copy form. It is very inexpensive but thoroughly and professionally covers its subject.
I am not fully familiar with the contents of this product but I do have his previous “Photoshop for Astrophotographers” and it is excellent.
The CD/DVD contains many image processing examples which the reader can himself/herself process using the step-by-step instructions.