Some useful internet links
There's so much information out on the net as well as some wonderful images to draw inspiration. Here is a selection to get you started.
Internet Forums.
Stargazers Lounge - very friendly place for newcomers and experienced stargazers alike. Visual as well as imaging. Great place for advice on all aspects of astronomy. Feels like my second home!
UKastroimaging- huge depth of imaging expertise here but don't let that intimidate you, it is a friendly place and you will get lots of helpful advice on how to improve.
Cloudy Nights- Huge US forum with a wide range of sub forums covering all areas of astronomy - they even have a gardening section!
The Gurus
Inspirational sites from 2 of the leaders in the field of astroimaging. OK, we can't all have observatories in New Mexico with 20" Richey Chretien scopes, Paramount ME mounts and SBIG ST1100 cameras (unless you have a spare £50 000) but we can enjoy looking at the results. What's more Rob Gendler and Rus Croman's sites contain lots of information to help the rest of us.
Software
Maxim DL All singing all dancing imaging software. Can slew and focus your scope, control your camera, sort the guiding, align and stack your images as well as provide a lot of powerful processing tools such as DDP. Pricey but very very good.
K3CCDtools There is a free version or you can pay for a few extra features. Wonderful image capture software for planetary and deep sky imaging especially if using webcams. Surprisingly powerful and can be used for guiding.
Registax Brilliant stacking and processing software for putting together a typical 2000 frame avi frame from a planetary imaging session. It's free as well!
Deep Sky Stacker Powerful but clunky software for aligning and combining deep sky images. Copes with field rotation and has a range of stacking filters which Registax doesn't.
Books.
http://www.galaxypix.com/Stargazing/ When first starting I found this range of books from Robin Scagell very helpful.
The New CCD Astronomy Outline If you only ever buy one book on astroimaging make sure it's Ron Wodaski's The New CCD Astronomy. It covers everything you will ever want to know. It's daunting read at first but there is plenty her for both the beginner and the experienced imager. His Zone System for Astroimaging is expensive for what it is but will give a huge boost to your processing skills.
Favourite Retailers
First Light Optics Steve at First Light Optics is a top bloke who wll bend over backwards to help. He is happy to chat about equipment and offer advice without ever pushing for a sale.
Ian King Imaging If you are thinking about getting some imaging gear then give Ian a call. One of the UKs outstanding images you know you are talking to an enthusiast. He is always keen to make sure you get what you need that he will even direct you elsewhere if he feels you need something he doesn't stock. Quick to act in the event of any problems. I have learnt a huge amount in the process of buying equipment here.
Modern Astronomy Bern at Modern Astronomy is another great guy to do business with. He has some very interesting kit and always seems to have a widget, adptor or coma corrector to suit your needs. A mine of information. Quick and reliable service.
More links to be posted soon!