The thought of trying to do digital astrophotography can appear to be a complex combination of expensive equipment and Herculean knowledge that goes beyond what most of us are ready or capable to undertake. Digital Astrophotography: A Guide To Capturing The Cosmos was written as a step-by-step guide to remove many of these barriers to entry.

Sure, there is some expense and some techniques you will need to work with, but by providing all the knowledge and information, it will now be easier to dip your feet in to the universal waters. Digital Astrophotography is 147 pages in length and is divided into five chapters.

Chapter 1, "Before you Start," is provided to give you some background about what this book is all about and to provide a proper introduction to astrophotography. It is helpful for you to have some background about the celestial objects you want to photograph, as that is not the main focus of this book.

As with everything else, it is always best to start off small and work your way up. Because of the advances in technology, it is much easier to get good results even with small telescopes and inexpensive digital cameras. Here you will learn about the appropriate telescopes, interaction of camera and telescope, and how they work together.

Chapter 2, "The Digital Compact Camera," goes into the characteristics of a digital compact camera. This chapter goes through the suitable motifs for this type of camera, how to work with and without a telescope, and what the advantages and disadvantages are to working with this type of camera. It also goes in to the kind of useful accessories for working with a digital compact camera and how to take longer exposures, as well as how to process your images.

Chapter 3, "The Webcam," begins by describing what a webcam is; this is your standard web camera used for video conferencing and video phone calls. Ideal objects for use with a web cam are objects within our solar system. With a webcam you can quickly capture close-ups of details of the sun and moon. Please read the warnings. Chapter 3 describes how to set up the web cam, position it, and get it focused. Also discussed is how to process your images and the tools you will need.