Recommended software

These are some of the programs I use or have tried and recommend:

• WcCtrl: helps to control the settings of several webcam models (freeware).
• WcRmac: edits the firmware of several webcam models (freeware).
• SkyChart: Sky map (freeware).
• AutoStar Suite: Sky map from Meade.
• Messier Marathon: generates a list of Messier objects visibles from your location (freeware).
  
• NGC Observer: generates a list of objects from several catalogs (Messier, NGC, etc.) visibles from your location.
• AstroPlanner: observation planner, much more more sophisticated than the previous. Free version with some limitations.
• Bahtinov Grabbber: helps focusing using a Bahtinov mask (freeware).
  
• EQAlign: scope polar aligning, periodic error analysis and autoguiding (freeware).
• Desire: long exposure imaging with modified webcams (freeware).
• K3CCDTools: photo and video acquisition, planetary image processing (freeware version). See my image processing video tutorial using this software.
  
• Envisage: image acquisition, calibration, aligning and stacking for Meade DSI cameras.
• MaxIm DL: image acquisition, calibration, aligning, stacking and post-processing.
• DeepSkyStacker: image calibration, aligning and stacking specific for deep space astrophotography. See my image processing video tutorial using this software.
• RegiStax: image calibration, aligning and stacking specific for planetary astrophotography. It can also be used for deep space astrophotography (freeware).
• IMerge: makes astrophotography mosaics (freeware).
• Focus magic: improves images focusing and contrast.
• PixInsight LE: image post-processing (freeware version).

Other software quite popular but which I have not tested yet:

• Photoshop: image post-processing.
  
• Iris: image calibration, aligning, stacking and post-processing. (freeware).