Untracked Astrophotography Course

Untracked Astrophotography

This online astrophotography course will teach you how to take incredible pictures of deep-sky objects without a telescope or tracking mount. Capture your favorite galaxy or nebula easily with just a tripod and a camera, then learn how to process it!

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Course Description

Deep Sky Objects without a Telescope or Tracker!

The Untracked Astrophotography Course will teach you how to capture incredible pictures of deep space objects, like galaxies or nebulae, using just a camera, lens, and tripod. Learn what is possible to achieve without a telescope, tracker, or other fancy gear! This course is perfect of beginner astrophotographers, and is entirely free!

This course covers all you need to know about untracked astrophotography so you can skip the frustrating nights, the equipment issues, and save time sifting through hundreds of tutorials published on YouTube. Your instructor, Antoine of Galactic Hunter, will help you master your gear so that you can get the best possible shot of your chosen galaxy or nebula with only a tripod and camera. The screenshots below were taken directly from the course, and show the setup used as well as the picture of the Andromeda Galaxy captured with just 28 minutes of exposure time!

The most complete untracked astrophotography course on the internet
Lifetime access with free updates
Compatible across platforms (Windows, Mac, Mobile...)
35 videos with commentary, 67 written lessons and bonus content
Downloadable videos for offline learning

Course curriculum

1. Welcome to our Untracked Deep Sky Astrophotography Course!
2. Table of Contents
3. How to Navigate this Course
4. Come Say Hello! ☕️
5. Astrophotography with Just a Camera and Tripod - It's Possible !
6. Before We Begin...
1. Introduction
2. Choosing the Right DSLR/Mirrorless Camera
3. The Camera: Canon Ra
4. The Lens: Samyang 135mm f/2
5. The Tripod: Carbon Fiber Tripod
6. The Intervalometer: Wireless
7. Accessories: SD Card and Battery Grip
8. Equipment Summary
9. Test Your Knowledge - Equipment
1. Introduction
2. The Best Time to Image the Andromeda Galaxy
3. Ideas of Targets You Can Shoot
4. The Best Location to Image a Galaxy and Escaping Light Pollution
5. Using Stellarium to Plan our Shot
6. Using SkySafari to Plan our Shot
7. Useful Apps for Astrophotography
8. Ensuring that the Camera Sensor is Clean
9. Planning our Shot: Summary
10. Test Your Knowledge - Planning
1. Introduction
2. Camera Navigation: Canon Ra
3. The "500 Rule"
4. The "NPF Rule"
5. Camera Settings
6. Switching the Lens to "Manual" Mode
7. How to Switch to BULB Mode
8. How to Use the Built-In Intervalometer Feature in Newer Cameras
9. Camera Settings - Summary
10. Test Your Knowledge - Camera Settings
1. Introduction
2. Arriving on Location and Picking a Spot
3. Setting Up
4. Focussing the Lens
5. Finding M31 and Centering It
6. Shooting M31 and Keeping it Centered
7. Taking Dark Calibration Frames
8. Taking Bias Calibration Frames
9. Photographing Summary
10. Test Your Knowledge - Imaging
1. Introduction
2. Importing and Organizing our Files
3. Download our Raw File!
4. Download our Process Icons
5. How to Install PixInsight
6. Using Deep Sky Stacker [Free]
7. Keeping Only the Good (Blink)
8. Stacking with PixInsight
9. Dynamic Crop and Rotation
10. Gradient Correction
11. Star Size Reduction and Detail Enhancements
12. Noise Reduction
13. Stretch to Non-Linear
14. Green Removal
15. Star Extraction
16. Detail Enhancements
17. Contrast & Color Enhancements
18. Fixing the Core
19. Adding the Stars Back and Reducing their Size
20. Image Export
21. Processing Summary
22. Test Your Knowledge - Processing
1. Final Thoughts
2. Survey - Season 5
3. The Galactic Course Ultimate Bundle

About this course

Free
70 lessons
2 hours of video content

Start Learning Astrophotography for FREE!

The course has been designed to be very easy to follow, with a structure based on the learning experience. That means no annoying music, no filler talk, and no unnecessary montage. Go through each lesson in order, or jump from section to section, the choice is yours!

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Build your Own Beginner Rig

Using affordable gear you may already have

Believe it or not, all you need to start taking pictures of deep sky objects is a tripod, a camera, and a lens! Learn what to look for when choosing your gear, which lens to use, and get tips about accessories that will make your goal easier, like an intervalometer or a battery grip.

Master Planning and Camera Settings

Be fully prepared for a successful night

Learn about the impact of light pollution, how to find a good location for photographing your chosen target, know which sites and apps I recommend for checking the weather, and how to simulate your night using planetarium software. Get ideas for more objects to shoot, know how to clean your camera sensor, and more.

Astrophotography Planning and Camera Settings lessons

Photograph a Deep Sky Object

A tripod and camera are enough to capture galaxies and nebulae!

In the Imaging chapter, you will learn waht you need to do to capture your first picture of a deep-sky object. I will teach you everything from setting up your rig to keeping your target centered throughout the night to taking calibration frames. Once you decide to pack up, you can be sure that your SD card will be full of high-quality raw data ready to be processed!

Master Data Processing

Turn your raw data into an impressive picture

In this module, you'll learn how to use PixInsight to stack your files, and get an easy step-by-step workflow to get the most beautiful result out of your data. You will be able to replicate the process thanks to the beginner-friendly workflow chosen for this course. You can also download my own data as well as my custom process icons to further help you use PixInsight without struggling.

End Quizzes

At the end of each chapter, you'll find a short quiz designed to help reinforce what you've just learned and check if you've retained the key information. These quizzes are optional, but they offer a fun way to wrap up each chapter and challenge yourself to achieve a high score!

Full Access to the Galactic Lounge ☕️

A Space where Everyone is Welcome

Join the Galactic Lounge, a growing community for astrophotographers to connect, share tips, ask questions, and get expert help. Access a supportive forum for all things Astrophotography, share photos, and stay updated on events and announcements!

Enter the Galactic Lounge Now

Get the Beginner Untracked Astrophotography Course Now

Access our Untracked Astrophotography course and start learning immediately!

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Galactic Course Reviews

“Lots of top tips, useful advice and good content. I’m enjoying being part of it and it has definitely improved my understanding, skill level and results for astrophotography. Worth doing.”

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“Very informative, and summarized nicely.”

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“I have autism and found this course VERY helpful and educational! I found some videos on the internet about astrophotography are sometimes too hard for my auditory processing to fully understand, but this course is so beginner friendly, it is one of my go-to resources! I rely heavily on visual learning and the videos have helped me improve my post-processing and camera settings a LOT. For example, I am now shooting my pictures in the correct exposure on the histogram, and so far it has worked out far better than I expected and the post-processing videos are very simple and easy to follow-along. One of the course's best aspects is the layout. You can read and watch anything you want, when you want in no order. Other resources are set in a way where you have to watch them in a particular order, and I love the flexibility that this course has. Antione and Dalia definitely know what they are doing. I highly commend and thank both of them for creating this course. Their knowledge is invaluable and I cannot wait to see what the other seasons have in store! Zak Jones - NSW, Australia”

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“It has been quite a learning curve for me because it really is hard to teach old dogs new tricks. I started in 1982 and set my scope aside in 2001. I started again in 2020 and things have really changed. This was just the thing I needed to get bac...”

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“Don't know how to start, stuck in the middle, been doing this for along time and want some new ideas! This is the spot to be. ”

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“The advanced processing piece is loaded with great Milky way processing tips that actually simplify things.”

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Instructor Bio

Learn from mentors who truly care

Antoine Grelin is a French-American astrophotographer and is one-half of Galactic Hunter. Along with his wife Dalia, Galactic Hunter offers astrophotography tutorials, guides, gear reviews, and complete courses for all levels of skill and equipment.
Galactic Hunter images have been featured in NASA publications, Astronomy Magazine, BBC, and PBS Television, and have been recognized with awards from APOD, Flickr Explore, AAPOD2, and more.

Antoine Grelin

Instructor

[email protected]

Instructor Bio

Learn from mentors who truly care

Dalia Grelin is an American amateur astronomer and the second half of Galactic Hunter. She has a BSBA in Marketing and had a career in digital marketing. She assists with marketing, filming videos, and creating astrophotography content. As a supportive wife and assistant to Antoine, Dalia also has expertise in astrophotography knowledge from years of working on Galactic Hunter.

Dalia Grelin

Instructor

[email protected]

Awards & Features

Our astrophotography has been featured in the following and many more:

FAQ

How long will I have access to the course material?

This course is 100% free and gives you lifetime access with no expiry date. Bundles on the other hand, which include all courses at a low price, have a small yearly renewal fee. More info on that can be found on the bundle pages.
What kind of support is available if I have questions during the course?

We receive a lot of emails and messages on social media each day from people seeking help with astrophotography. We do our best to reply to everyone, but it is not always possible. We prioritize emails from both Galactic Course members and Patreon.
Can I access the course on mobile devices?

Yes, you can access the course on any device, which include computers, tablets, and smartphones.
Can I access the course offline?

The course lessons are hosted on an online platform, but you will have the option to download the videos and watch them at any time, even when offline!

Upgrade to the Ultimate Bundle!

Why get one when you can get ALL?

The Untracked astrophotography course is part of the Galactic Course Ultimate Bundle, which also includes our courses on Deep Sky imaging, Star trails, Time-lapses, Remote Imaging, all our processing guides, and several perks!

The Ultimate Bundle has a small annual renewal fee, but includes so much more and regular updates! Try it and feel free to cancel at any time if you do not like it!

We strongly suggest getting the Ultimate Bundle to unlock all our learning content and get the very best out of your investment.

Galactic Course - Ultimate Bundle

The Ultimate Bundle of the Galactic Course includes not only all the course lessons, but also all our processing guides! This is the best investment for the price and the largest of our bundles.

$299.88 / year
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