Create your own Astrophotography

For years, the software program MaxIm DL* has been the premiere package for astronomical CCD imaging and image processing.

Now you can target and capture an image in Starry Night Pro Plus with a plug-in to MaxIm DL. This innovative integration lets you find your target, take and process images with MaxIm DL and then import these pictures back into Starry Night Pro Plus. Take your passion for the night sky to new heights with the ability to create your own stunning astrophotography.

*MaxIm DL Advanced CCD Imaging Sotware is available only for windows and is sold separately. Please visit Diffraction Limited

Capturing images with Starry Night and MaxIm DL

Here is how it works:

1. Open Starry Night Pro Plus 6. The plug-in is installed by default.
2. Open MaxIm DL and have your telescope and camera ready for imaging.
3. Using Starry Night, find a target you are interested in imaging.
4. Open the Telescope pane in Starry Night.
5. Expand the Imaging layer to reveal a set of imaging controls. Press the Acquire Image button to tell MaxIm DL to take a picture of the current camera field (where the telescope is pointing).
6. Control is passed to MaxIm DL, which now takes a picture.
7. After MaxIm DL captures the image, press the Import Image button in the Telescope pane of Starry Night Pro Plus to import the image from MaxIm DL into the Starry Night Image Editor window.
8. In the Image Editor window, you can adjust the size, rotation, name, notes and other parameters of the image, to match it to the background sky (this will be done automatically if you have MaxIm DL perform a ‘PinPoint’ astrometry function on the image before import).
9. It is that easy. Your image is now stored in Starry Night Pro Plus and can be viewed at any time by checking the User Images box in the Deep Space layer of the Options pane. Images get saved in the User Images folder and User Images.txt file located by default under C:\Program Files\Starry Night Pro Plus 5\Sky Data. We suggest you backup this folder and file from time to time.

This integration requires Starry Night Pro Plus version 6 and MaxIm DL version 4.0.7 and higher.

About MaxIm DL

MaxIm DL is the fastest and easiest way to image the night sky. Whether you want to produce stunning portraits, collect science data, or hunt for new objects, MaxIm DL has the tools you need.

Key benefits:

• Complete observatory integration — control your CCD camera, filter wheel, autoguider, telescope, focuser, and dome. Includes auto-center, auto-focus, and link to planetarium program.
• Supports your equipment — works with more equipment models than any other package.
• Comprehensive image processing tools — dozens of filter and processing options, full image preview, filter by brightness level.
• Image analysis tools — includes photometric analysis, astrometric reduction, supernova hunting, line/area profile, statistics, and more.

Maxim DL from Diffraction Limited