A Practical Guide to Lightcurve Photometry and Analysis

The Practical Guide to Lightcurve Photometry and Analysis provides those with access to even a modest telescope and a CCD camera, the background and detailed steps to take part in important astronomical research. Readers will learn about the projects in which they can take part as well as the techniques of gathering, analysing, and then publishing their data. The primary market for this book is amateur astronomers, but undergraduate students willalso find its easy going friendly style ideal for help with their studies in this subject. There is of course more to lightcurve photometry than simply taking pictures. For the results to be of value, the data must be gathered and processed in certain ways so that it is both meaningful and can be used by others for analysis. The book contains enough background material (theory) for the reader to understand and avoid the pitfalls in the process. More important, there are detailed examples provided for obtaining data and, for many, the more exciting and rewarding effort of analysing the data to determine various properties of the object being studied. Under "choosing the right software" the author looks critically at the commercially-available packages, providing screen shots and useful advice. Any amateur astronomer who wants to go beyond mere imaging with a CCD camera will find everything in the book that he needs to take a step into real science.