I was lucky enough to find out about imaging with a webcam when hardly anyone outside QCUIAG(Quickcam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group)had given it a second thought. There were individuals in that group that were, even then, turning out images of the Solar System that rivaled professional observatories with these inexpensive devices that were never intended to be turned skyward. But because of the forward-thinking of some of their members and people's unceasing drive to tinker
(and discover!), major monthly publications like Sky and Telescope and Astronomy quickly understood the power these little cams wielded and began to pay considerable attention to the images that were beginning to fill their reader gallery pages.
As with any technology, the quality of the cameras, their chips, and ultimately the software that was being written to drive them, resulted in amateur images that were making everyone take notice and want to get in on this versatile and simple method of capturing exciting images of our nearest neighbours. Until I discovered this gem on Amazon, I was pretty much limited to whatever knowledge I could acquire about imaging with a webcam to what was posted on the net.
This book in the "Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series" has changed all that. It is a wonderfully concise and richly illustrated guidebook for both beginner and advanced amateur alike. It introduces in the most basic way how anyone with a modest telescope and simple webcam can turn out world-class images. Now to put this new knowledge to work in improving my own imaging techniques! Lunar and Planetary Webcam User's Guide (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series)
As a very novice astronomer, and knowing absolutely nothing about webcams, I purchased this book based on the reviews and the title. While the planetary and lunar photos were nice, the first portions of the book was basically worthless, unless you wanted an introduction to individuals world wide who have been at this for a long time and have great equipment. Damian Peach takes terrific photos, but that sure doesn't help a beginner know how to use the equipment. The installation of the camera is probably a no-brainer. But getting the initial images loaded is really glossed over. The chapter entitled "Beginner's Guide to using a Webcam" has a superficial procedure to get the camera installed and focused. The final step, #13, says "Call up the webcam's Capture menu and choose a time and frame rate and a filename, e.g., 120 seconds, 10 frames per second, Jupiter1. Hit return!" That's it, nothing more. Then he jumps into using Registax to stack images. Well guess what, my new webcam, a Philips SPC900NC, has software which doesn't have these options, let alone saving the files in an .avi file. So where do I turn now? How do I convert any saved video into an .avi file for use by Registax? If you are counting on this book to help you are out of luck. And assuming you could figure out how to import .avi files into Registax, the explanations of Registax for image processing and stacking is also very lightly touched upon. This is NOT a beginner's guide book to answer your every question. It will give you a brief exposure to webcams, their usage, and photos possible.
This is an outstanding reference for you astronomy buffs who use webcams and RegiStax for planetary imaging. Mobberley's book is also sprinkled with all sorts of observations, like living in the Low Country on the coast can sometimes be an advatage for observing. This is not intuitive. - Astronomy - Digital Photography - Astrophotograph - Night Photography'
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