CCD Imaging Primer
	Imaging Made Easy and Fun!

Image processing is often a real minefield in the world of CCD imaging. A simple fact of life is that some images can be processed to a pleasing final result much more easily than others. Images with lousy focus, tracking, seeing, etc. just won't look good no matter how much manipulation you subject them to. So here's a to-do list for imaging:

Do pay attention to your focus and tracking.

Inspect the images carefully as you take them, and save only the good images to your hard drive. You will save much time and effort this way!

Do image objects around the time they are transiting.

The transit time is when the object crosses the meridian and is when it reaches its maximum altitude as viewed from your site.

Do make the effort to get as much exposure (i.e. as many frames) as possible on an object

Even the bright, "easy" objects like M27 benefit from having 20 minutes or more. Your final image will have better contrast, colour (with the MX5C), and require less "tweaking" at the end.

Do try to match the focal length of your telescope to the size of the object you are imaging.

Objects that only span a small fraction of the width of your CCD field of view generally aren't as good as ones that fill it.

OK, now to the actual processing. Two processing examples will be shown here: M27 in B&W with the MX5 camera and M27 in colour with the MX5-C.