astrophotography

=//**ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY**//=

Astrophotography is a specialized type of photography that captures astronomical objects, celestial events, and large areas of the night sky. Some of these objects include stars, nebulae, eclipses, galaxies, moons, planets, etc. These types of photographs can be categorized into three main categories which include: scenic, planetary, and deep sky. There are also a variety of techniques that astro-photographers use when capturing these types of photographs. These different techniques include piggyback, prime focus, a focal, and eye piece projection photography. I was really interested in this concept because I find these images breathtaking, they almost seem to be elaborate paintings, that could never be real. It amazes me that these images are from actual objects in our sky. The following links are web pages that I looked at and reviewed for content.

[[image:sky image 2.jpg width="300" height="265"]][[image:sky image 3.jpg width="432" height="244"]]
//Image: mikesalway.com.au// //Image: uanews.org//

//"Star Trails and the Captain's Ghost," Chris Kotsiopoulos. greeksky.gr//

By: Michael E. Bakich [] Entry Added By: C. Apedaile, Fall 2012.
 * __Astroimaging__**
 * Date Read:** December 1, 2012
 * Audience:** All
 * Brief Description:** This web page is from the website for a magazine called "Astronomy." The article goes over how to use the camera. The feild of view of the lens that gives you the most in an image. The type of film you should use wheather it be black and white or color. Also it discusses the ways you should process this film.
 * Overall Review:** This page is packed with useful information about the image process of astrophography and how to best get the image you are looking for.

__**Astrophotography**__ [] Entry Added By: C. Apedaile, Fall 2012. __**Astrophotography for Amatuers**__ By: Oliver Thizy [] Entry Added By: C. Apedaile, Fall 2012.
 * Date Read:** December 1, 2012
 * Audience:** All
 * Brief Description:** This page is from a website for a magazine called "Sky and Telescope." This page connects you to several articles that give lots of information on astrophograpghy ranging from camera usage to deep sky imaging.
 * Overall Review:** This page is great for all audiences because it allows the viewer to choose from several topics that they find interesting.
 * Date Read:** December 3, 2012
 * Audience:** Middle School and above.
 * Brief Description:** This page is a for amatuers by an amature. This is not a bad thing. Even though the author is an amature he does know what he is talking about and he explains in a way that anyone could understand. He discusses some things that the other web pages do not, such as; tracking, storing, correcting and filters. It is also set up in a basic manner so that it is easy to read. There are also no advertisments so you can focus on the texts.
 * Overall Review:** This is an easy to navigate, easy to read, informational page.

__**Digital Camera Modifications and Convertions**__ By: Spencers Camera [] Entry Added By: C. Apedaile, Fall 2012.
 * Date Read:** December 4, 2012
 * Audience:** All, but recomended for those interested in all types of photography.
 * Brief Description:** This page is from a website that sells al kinds of cameras, filters and other accessories. The page talks about, and shows you, the different types of cameras and filters that are useful for taking deep sky pictures. Though the page is not necessarily an educational page it is useful for those who want to get started in astrophotography.
 * Overall Review:** This is a good page for advice on the right equipment.

By: Paul Lefevre [] Entry Added By: C. Apedaile, Fall 2012.
 * __How To: Astrophotography 101__**
 * Date of Last Edit:** December 16, 2008
 * Date Read:** November 30, 2012
 * Audience:** High school and above.
 * Brief Description:** This web page briefly describes what astrophotography is and continues to gie tips on two techniques used in astrophotography. The galary of pictures is small but interesting. I asume this is a sponsored sight because there are alot of ads on the page as well and they may be a little distracting.
 * Overall Review:** This webpage is easy to use and has useful information that can be used by the above audience.

By: Jerry Lodriguss http://www.astropix.com/
 * __Catching the Light, Astrophotography__**
 * Date read:** 3/30/07
 * Audience:** everyone from children to professionals
 * Brief Description:** This web page has both pictures and "how to" guides. There are thumbnails to chose from of pictures of numerous astrological objects and styles of astrophotography. Under all the pictures is a description of the image as well as a breakdown of date, location, equipment and settings. The images are catorgerized and listed in both thumbnail form and text only list form, this makes it very easy to find specific images. There is also a guide on how to do your own astrophotography, it is very extensive. There is a blog section which is constantly updated with new pictures and stories. There are also links to a weather page and people's stories.
 * Overall Review:** This web page is very impressive, I think it has something for everyone, Pictures for those who don't need all the details, and extensive details for the curious and fellow professionals.

__**Chuck's Astrophoto Page**__ http://astrophotography.aa6g.org/
 * Date Read:** 4/15/07
 * Audience:** anyone
 * Brief Description:** This web page is made up of just thumbnails of different Astrophotographs that were taken by "chuck". The images are seperated into their apporpiate categories: diffuse nebulas, diffuse nebulas in H-alpha, star clusters, galaxies, other objects. There is also a table of text links to older pictures at the bottom of the page. Some of the links don't work exactly right, but overall it is functional. The images are beautiful and large, with descriptions for each image about location and equipment used. There is one really interesting aspect to this site that I haven't seen before, is a gray scale at the top of the page to check your monitor's color scale, so you can see the images as they are intended to be seen.
 * Overall Review:** I think this is a great page for someone who would just like to see some really interesting images.

__**Galaxy Photography and Digital Imaging**__ Astro images by: Jason Ware [|//http://www.galaxyphoto.com/////]
 * Date Read:** 5/13/07
 * Audience:** anyone
 * Brief Description:** This web page was a collection of a astrophotographers images, I believe that Galaxy Photography is a company that he owns. There are thumbnails to images that are seperated into appropiate categorties. There are also links to a service that his company does of image enhancement for other people's astro images. There is also a place where you can order pictures of his images. There is a page of related articles and a page for contact information.
 * Overall Review:** This page has some really great images, and I think that people who are interested in astrophotography would enjoy the images, and the option of ordering their favorite images.

__**Starmatt Astrophotography**__ By: Matt BenDaniel http://starmatt.com/
 * Date Read:** 5/14/07
 * Audience:** anyone
 * Brief Description:** This web page home page has a bunch of thumbnails with links to more images in specific categories such as Nebulae, wide field, solar system, star trails, star clusters, remnants, and galaxies. All the images have a description at the bottom with information on location, equipment and settings. There are links to a page where you can order prints of images, and a link to a page called SLOOH, which is a live sky cam. There is a contact page, and article page, a link page to other useful pages, and a site map.
 * Overall Review:** This site is pretty good, it has some nice images and is very nicely organized, and it gives some tips in the articles page.

__**Russell Croman Astrophotography: Fine Photographs of Celestial Wonders**__ -This page contains tons of professional photographs from an award winning astrophotographer, Russell Croman. http://www.rc-astro.com/ Entry Added By: Liz Fordahl Spring 2009
 * Author:** Russell Croman
 * Date Reviewed:** April 9, 2009
 * Intended Audience:** Amateur/ General Public
 * Useful for:** Students/ Teachers/ Anyone Interested
 * Summary:** This is a really cool, full website. It is easy to navigate and set up with all of the tabs on the left side of the page. There are six main categories including latest, popular, nebulae, galaxies, star clusters, and solar system. Each thumbnail increases into a larger image with a complete description of technical data beneath it. Also on this website is a page about the photographer (Russell Croman), a page full of images that have been published, a resource page, a page full of categorized slide shows, and a page where you can purchase prints for yourself. The images on this website are amazing.
 * Opinion:** I love this website. If you are looking for photographs for a project, Croman has got it all.

__**What is Astrophotography?**__ [|theartofnight.com] **Date Reviewed:** 5/16/2018 **Reviewed by:** Ruby Laguna **Accuracy:** After looking through the website for some time, I found no issues with his information and considering he is in fact an award-winning photographer I would assume his information on photography would be correct. **Audience:** I found the site to suit the appropriate audience of anyone who is even the slightest bit curious about astrophotography. The site is simple and straightforward. **Navigation:** The site was very easy to navigate and I found the information I needed easily.
 * Author:** Mark Gee
 * Overview:** This webpage has plentiful amounts of astrophotography. It covers the basics and beginner tips as well as some more in depth information as well. The site also provides various photographs that were taken by the artist, Mark Gee, who runs the site. Mark Gee is an award-winning photographer, so I would assume he is a credible source.
 * Last Updated:** 2018.

__**Astrobackyard**__ [|astrobackyard.com]
 * Overview:** The site is of a blogger and also artist who captures astro-photographs in the comfort of his backyard. He uses specialed cameras and equipment to capture his photographs. The site consists of his photographs, equipment he uses. and also tutorials and tips for beginners whom are interested in getting into astrophotography.
 * Last Updated:** 4/28/2018
 * Date Reviewed:** 5/16/2018
 * Reviewed by:** Ruby Laguna
 * Accuracy:** The artist has been practicing astrophotography for quite some time now and uses very up to date equipment so I would say he is a reliable source.
 * Audience:** To anyone interested in the basics of astrophotography.
 * Navigation:** The site was easy to navigate and has a clean look to it.

__**Astrophotography 101**__ [|lonelyspeck.com]
 * Author:** Ian Norman & Diana Southern
 * Overview:** This site has a wide variety on tutorials on how to capture specific astronomical objects. They provide a background of information on the equipment that is best for these types of photographs. The authors are very knowledgeable and proved many tips as well.
 * Last Updated:** 2/16/2018
 * Date Reviewed:** 5/16/2018
 * Reviewed By:** Ruby Laguna
 * Accuracy:** Some of the information on the site may be a bit outdated now since their info page on how to best capture the Milky Way is from 2014. other than that I found the rest of their information reliable.
 * Audience:** Photographers who are interested in the art of astrophotography.
 * Navigation:** The site wasn't too complicated, but I did find it to be rather scattered amongst some tabs on their pages. It felt a little cluttered at times and could have been cleaned up a bit.

__**Information about Astrophotography**__ [|actforlibraries.com]
 * Overview:** The page has a brief summary on the topic of astrophotography. This page itself is not super informative, but attached to the bottom of the page are additional links to more specific topics related to astrophotography that provide more in depth information. The links are also on the same website, which is why I included this page.
 * Last Updated:** 2017
 * Date Reviewed:** 5/16?2018
 * Reviewed by:** Ruby Laguna
 * Accuracy:** The page comes from a trusted source so I would assume the information provided is reliable. I found a lot of the information on this page on my other trusted sources as well.
 * Audience:** Anyone who wants a brief summary on what astrophotography is. I would not recommend this to anyone who already has some background information on the subject.
 * Navigation:** The page design was simple and straightforward. The additional links were neatly placed at the bottom of this page.

[|daffy.uah.edu]
 * __Astronomy and Astrophotography__**
 * Author:** Steve Edmondson
 * Overview:** The site provides plenty of astronomy related photographs that the author captured himself, along with information on astronomy alone. The site provides a list of links for viewers to explore on astonomy. The author also provided a gallery of his photrographs which he categorized and sorted.
 * Last Updated:** 10/2001
 * Date Reviewed:** 5/16/2018
 * Reviewed by:** Ruby Laguna
 * Accuracy:** The content may be a little outdated since it is an old site, but the astronomy information is still reliable. The author is a professor at University of Alabama so I trust his information to be correct.
 * Audience:** To photographers or astronomers who would like to get some more information on astrophotography.
 * Navigation:** The site was very simple, so it was easy to find what I needed.