Deep Sky Astrophotography: The Beginner's Guide

Learn how to get started with deep sky astrophotography in this free beginner course. Learn about telescopes, cameras, mounts, tracking, guiding, and image capture.

Interested in this course? Email us at [email protected]

Course curriculum

1. How to Navigate this Course
2. Before We Begin...
3. Come Say Hello! ☕️
1. Wide Field vs Deep-Sky Astrophotography
2. Astrophotography with Just a Camera and Tripod - It's Possible !
3. Astrophotography with a DSLR camera, tripod and star tracker
4. Astrophotography with a DSLR camera and a telescope
1. Introduction
2. Choosing the Right DSLR/Mirrorless Camera
3. Camera Accessories: Make Your Life a Little Easier
4. Which Telescope: Refractor or Reflector?
5. Choosing a Mount
6. Understanding Aperture
7. Understanding Focal Ratio
8. Understanding Focal Length
1. Light Pollution & the Bortle Scale
2. Target Selection: What Deep Sky Object Should You Image?
3. Planning Shots with Stellarium
4. Planning Shots with SkySafari
5. Camera Navigation: Canon Ra
6. Camera Settings
1. How to Properly Setup a Tripod
2. How to Safely Attach a Mount to the Tripod
3. How to Attach a Telescope to the Mount
4. How to Attach a DSLR Camera to a Telescope
1. How to Use an Intervalometer
1. How to Get Motivated: Astrophotography Apps and Websites
2. Get to Know Your Objective
3. Chapter 2 Introduction - Using a DSLR Camera
4. The Camera: Your New Best Friend
5. The Telescope: Making the Right Decision
6. The Mount: Strong and Sturdy
7. Camera Accessories: Make Your Life a Little Easier
8. Telescope Accessories: Don't Leave These at Home
9. Power Sources: Getting Amped on the Field
10. DSLR Camera - Equipment Summary
11. What Equipment Will You Be Using?
12. How German Equatorial Mounts Work
13. How to Attach a Clip-On Filter to a DSLR Camera
14. Chapter 3 Introduction - DSLR Camera Settings
15. Menu Walkthrough and Important Features to Activate
16. Main Menu Settings (ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture)
17. How to Switch to Manual or Automatic Focus
18. How to Switch to BULB Mode
19. Summary of Camera Settings
20. How to Use an Intervalometer
21. Chapter 4 Introduction - Planning is Everything
22. Battling Light Pollution: How to Find the Perfect Location
23. Weather Wizard: Which Websites and Apps to Use
24. Scouting a Location to Image from
25. What Object Should You Image?
26. How to Frame Using Planetarium Software
27. The Dangers Out on the Field
28. Survey
29. Chapter 5 Introduction - Setting Up and Initializing
30. How to Set Up Your Equipment
31. How to Attach the Camera to Your Telescope
32. How to Balance Your Rig
33. How to Plug in the Cables
34. How to Polar Align
35. Initializing the Mount and 3-Star Alignment
36. Chapter 6 Introduction - Imaging a Deep Sky Object
37. How to Focus at Night
38. What Settings Should We Use?
39. How to Focus the Guide Camera
40. How to Use the Auto-Guider
41. Using the Intervalometer and Taking Test Shots
42. Passing Time While Imaging
43. Calibration Frames: How to Take Darks, Bias, and Flats
44. Chapter 7 Introduction - Processing Data
45. Importing the Files
46. Downloading Raw Data
47. Stacking with Deep Sky Stacker
48. Stacking with PixInsight
49. Processing a Globular Cluster With PixInsight
50. Post-Processing with Lightroom
51. PixInsight - Access our Processing Workflow for Beginners
52. Processing Summary
53. Beginner Processing Survey
54. Messier 13 - Final Image Results
55. Chapter 8 Introduction - Using a One Shot Color Camera
56. One-Shot Color Cooled Astrophotography Camera
57. Telescopes - Using a Reflector Over a Refractor
58. Mounts - The Jump to a High-End Mount
59. Filters - Do You Need Them?
60. Batteries - We. Need. More. Power!
61. OSC Camera - Equipment Summary
62. Chapter 9 Introduction - Planning and Using SGP
63. Planning Ahead with SkySafari
64. SGP: Dashboard Walkthrough and The Basics
65. SGP: Settings Used to Capture M33
66. SGP: Setting Up Text and Email Notifications
67. Chapter 10 Introduction - Imaging a Galaxy from the Desert
68. Setting Up the Equipment
69. How to Use a Coma Corrector
70. How to Collimate a Reflector Telescope
71. Initializing the MyT Mount
72. SGP: How to Focus
73. Test Shots and Launching Our Series
74. Calibration Frames with SGP: Taking Darks and Flats
75. Chapter 11 Introduction - Processing OSC Data
76. Transferring Files
77. Download Our OSC Camera Raw Data!
78. Debayering: Why is it Important?
79. Processing a Galaxy with PixInsight
80. Messier 33 - Final Image Results
81. Chapter 12 Introduction - Using a Monochrome Camera
82. The Monochrome Camera
83. The Telescope: We're Using Another Refractor!
84. Extra Accessories: An Off Axis Guider and Electronic Auto-Focuser
85. How to Mount the OAG on the Camera
86. The Electronic Filter Wheel and Narrowband Filters
87. Mono Camera - Equipment Summary
88. Chapter 13 Introduction - Planning and Using the ASIAir
89. Understanding monochrome cameras
90. Planning Our Shot
91. What is the ASIAir?
92. What is a Field Flattener?
93. Chapter 14 Introduction - Imaging a Nebula from Home
94. Setting Up in the Backyard
95. ASIAir: Initializing and Connecting the Equipment
96. ASIAir: How to Focus and use the Electronic Focuser
97. ASIAir: How to Focus the Guide Camera on the OAG
98. ASIAir: Test Shots and Launching Our Series
99. ASIAir: Shooting Flats and Darks
100. ASIAir Pro - Mount Controls and Auto-Guiding
101. [2022 Update] Full Walkthrough using the ASIAir Plus
102. Chapter 15 Introduction - Processing Monochrome Data
103. Transferring Files from the ASIAir to the Computer
104. Download Our Raw Data!
105. Processing Walkthrough of Monochrome Data
106. IC 5070 - Final Image Results
107. Chapter 16 Introduction - Art You Can Be Proud Of
108. Our Favorite Printing Companies
109. Displaying Your Art
110. Final Thoughts

About this course

Free
136 lessons
6.5 hours of video content

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TESTIMONIALS

WHAT OUR MEMBERS SAY

“One of a kind! Astrophotography is an intense hobby and it can be hard to know where to start or find the information and help needed throughout the learning process. I had always wished there was an all in one class or course to help lay it all out in the same way I have learned my other photography skills. When I saw this course announced I was super excited and signed up right away. It is very informative and well put together, covering everything a beginner would need to know. Highly recommend.”

“This truly is an all-in-one course for learning astrophotography. It will help you choose what equipment you will need. Or if you already have some equipment it will help you to get the best out of your equipment. It covers everything from the equipment, to taking the pictures, to how to edit the pictures. And then it even shows you where to get your picture printed to show off the skills that you have acquired.”

“This course is absolutely outstanding. Great course with 100% real-world scenarios and lots of materials to download. I love the course and would recommend it as the first thing to whoever wants to wet their feet in astrophotography. 100% worth the investment and not at all a hefty price considering the help this course provides with whatever we might need to learn and invest in the rig. This would be THE course I would recommend to anyone who wants to start astrophotography as a hobby.”

“I loved everything and have learned so much! It was well worth the investment and I can't wait for the next course to be released.”

“I really enjoyed the course. Nothing was overly technical and was well explained. I've really enjoyed having access to the Discord community and being able to get answers and see questions from others like myself just starting out. So far it's been worth the investment, with the understanding that future seasons are going to be added. I also enjoyed the fact that you used different equipment and explained in detail what to do with all of it. ”

“Tons of valuable information on astrophotography. The way they have the courses set up, you can mix and match section to ultimately fit the setup that works for you.”

“Def worth the investment! Learned a lot and the use of your data will help a lot in learning how to edit. ”

“I feel this was a great course and it was well worth the money for me. We all spend a lot of money on our equipment and having someone to help you through all the ins and outs makes it more enjoyable. I wish something like this was around for me 35 years ago when I first started, then my telescope my not have sat in the corner collecting dust all that time. Of course the technology has changed but the love of space has not. I would highly recommend this course to anyone.”

“Great job on both Seasons! I learned a lot from them and really look forward to learning more as my own Astro journey begins!”

“I made the move from visual to astrophotography about a year ago. I have been heavily leveraging Galactic Hunter's instructional videos on YouTube, as well as following their step-by-step guides for image processing. I have a growing collection of frame-worthy images and I thank Galactic Hunter for it!”

“Great course! Great content, taught by knowledgeable teachers :) ”

“I have learned a lot from this course which includes the planning, set-up of equipment, and processing the final image. The material in the course is easy to follow. And the feedback from Antoine has helped my astrophotography journey.”

More Reviews

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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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“I've been following Antoine and Dalia for a while now, and have always enjoyed their tutorials, so when I saw they had put together this course, I was interested, but initially was unsure what I would learn from it, since I have been into astrophotography for a little while now. Still, I decided to go ahead and it has proved to be very worthwhile! I learned quite a few new tricks, particularly on the subject of using Pixinsight, and found that I was able to go back to some of my old photos and dramatically improve them using the tips and tricks I picked up from this course. Looking forward to the future seasons!”

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

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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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“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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