Introduction to Astrophotography

Suitable for ages 18+

Essential Information

Type	Courses
Location	Online
Date and Times	Six-week courses held on Tuesday evenings \| See page for full dates
Prices	£96

Book now See all available courses

This online course provides the basic knowledge, skills and techniques needed to create images of space.

It will explore how night-time photography is different to daytime and how, with a few key ideas and practice, it is possible to create amazing images.

The course tutor will guide the class through the first steps in learning how astronomy images are made. Starting with understanding camera settings, targets in the night sky and some straightforward processing, students will go on to capture and process their own images.

Students will learn how to use astrophotography image processing software tools, many of which are freely available. Most tools are based on MS Windows, although Mac OS alternatives, where available, are suggested.

The six-week course, run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, will also touch on some more advanced techniques using tracking and telescopes, to give students a taste of the possibilities of deep sky astrophotography.

Everyone taking a course is also entitled to a 10% discount on books purchased from Royal Museums Greenwich - please check with your course tutor for more details!

Students will ideally have access to their own equipment for this course, including a DSLR or mirrorless camera, lenses and a tripod.

Age: 18+

Meet the tutor: Les Brand

Les is a part-time astronomer at the Royal Observatory and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He regularly delivers exciting and informative shows to schools and the public at the Peter Harrison Planetarium. He also leads the ever-popular Evening with the Stars events, showing people the wonders of the night sky from the heart of London. He teaches introductory online courses on astronomy and astrophotography.

Les has his own back garden observatory, and owns several telescopes and cameras with which he battles London's light pollution and clouds! He was an advisor on recent BBC series Universe, where he showed it was possible to capture an image of a distant galaxy from Canary Wharf. Les is a committee member of his local astronomical society, and as a STEM ambassador regularly gives talks to schools and leads the young astronomers' club.

Although his knowledge of astronomy and astrophotography is largely self-taught, Les successfully completed a masters degree in astrophysics in 2022 and loves to inspire new learners and the next generation.

When do courses run?

Courses take place on Tuesday evenings from 7-9pm and run for six weeks in total. The full dates for the 2024/25 academic year are below; when making your booking, simply select the start date of the course you'd like to join:

5 November - 10 December 2024
7 January - 11 February 2025
25 February - 2 April 2025 (Please note the final session will take place on Wednesday 2 April)

The course will be held online via Zoom and is ideal for students who are not within commutable distance of London or cannot travel to Greenwich.

Public astronomy at the Royal Observatory

Learn all about our programme of events, including daytime observing sessions, evening lates, talks, community astronomy shows, film screenings in the planetarium, astronomy courses and more

Learn more

Essential Information

Meet the tutor: Les Brand

When do courses run?

You may also be interested in

Public astronomy at the Royal Observatory