Telescope Live (and other) Resources to Jump Start Novices to the Site
I read a recent post from a new member to our Telescope Live community who is also a new Silver Member to the Telescope Live website. This new member expressed hesitation to select and download their first set of 1-Click Observation Data such as the one I've posted here of the Fireworks Galaxy. This was out of fear that they did not know how to get started in processing raw astrophotography data into a coherent image. They weren’t sure where to begin, and the tutorials contained within the Telescope Live website seemed much too advanced and overwhelming for where this person was on their astrophotography journey. However, thanks to a very welcoming and inclusive community this person got very good advice from several members as to how to proceed. I can only hope this person now feels a lot more comfortable and knowledgeable getting started on their path. That said, it did get me thinking that with so many new members joining our community, this person might not be the only new member with this kind of problem.
When you log into the Telescope Live website, your personal site dashboard opens. At the top of your dashboard is your Personal Quick Start Guide; click the yellow button below titled “Start Your Guide” and you’ll be sent to the Onboarding menu. If you follow the progression of steps listed, you’ll begin to understand how to effectively use the site to your advantage. Of special note is the 3rd section down titled “How to Post-Process Your Images”.
When you come to this part of the onboarding process, you’ll be sent to the Tutorials section. There are a lot of tutorials on all manner of subject matter regarding processing your images and it can be a bit intimidating for someone who is completely new at this. However, simply select “Getting Started” and a narrower selection of tutorials more tailored for the beginner will be listed.
One of the first major decisions you’ll need to make in your astro image processing journey is to decide what image processing software you want to use. There are many options out there, but the selections generally boil down to these:
PixInsight; this program is, in my opinion the most comprehensive image processing program out there and arguably the standard that all other astro image processing programs are measured against. It is the program I exclusively use to process images. As it is quite comprehensive, PixInsight also has the steepest learning curve of all image processing programs. The good news is there are a lot of resources to use to get quite competent with it but it will take time and a lot of study and practice to be able to effectively use all the tools. In the Tutorials section, Adam Block provides 2 tutorials that I would highly recommend your review;
- Introduction to Imaging - https://telescope.live/tutorials/introduction-imaging
- Basic Image Processing with PixInsight - https://telescope.live/tutorials/basic-image-processing-pixinsight
Astro Pixel Processor; Scotty Bishop is an excellent imager and one of Telescope Live’s staff of tutors. In his tutorial, Image Processing On Astro Pixel Processor, Scotty will show you how to effectively use this program from beginning to end. https://telescope.live/tutorials/image-processing-astro-pixel-processor
Affinity Photo; Affinity Photo is a newer program that is becoming increasingly popular for image processing. Nik Szymanek, another Telescope Live staff tutor introduces this program and the basics of how to use it effectively. Nik has 2 tutorials listed here that should be viewed;
- Introduction to Affinity Photo - https://telescope.live/tutorials/introduction-affinity-photo-astrophotography
- Image Stacking and Narrowband Processing in Affinity Photo - https://telescope.live/tutorials/image-stacking-and-narrowband-processing-affinity-photo
After reviewing these tutorials, I think you’ll be in a better position to decide which program may be the best fit for someone new to astrophotography in general and Telescope Live specifically and give them some confidence to start downloading and processing 1-Click data effectively.
One last item I’d like to mention; effective as these tutorials on Telescope Live are, they are not the last word on the journey to becoming competent not just as an imager but also as an astronomer. There are resources outside of Telescope Live that you should check out, and the I list below are quite excellent references to use to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of our hobby. They will make things far more enjoyable for you almost immediately.
- The Deep Sky Imaging Primer, 3rd Edition by Charles Bracken
- The Astrophotography Manual, 2nd Edition by Chris Woodhouse
Stay safe, have a lot of fun if you decide to go after these targets, get your neighbors to turn off their lights at night and convince them to join in the fun….
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Image Credits
NGC 6946 - Fireworks Galaxy; Telescope Live 1-Click Observation LRGB Data using SPA-2 & Processed in PixInsight.
This blog post was originally published in our Telescope Live Community.
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