image courtesy Santa Barbara Instrument Group
image courtesy Santa Barbara Instrument Group
My primary reason for getting into CCD's was to image deep sky objects that are too small to capture with any amount of detail on film. When I first used the camera, I was surprised at how well it performed. On the resolution front, it managed to repeatedly pick up more detail than I was ever able to catch with film, including Kodak Tech Pan. Every image so far has recorded more detail, more stars and in general "more stuff" - except, of course, there is less field.
The other pleasant surprise was the dynamic range. This shows well in the m57 image. The nebula has some nice detail considering the conditions it was shot under, but it also picked up a nice but faint background galaxy. I had attempted this with film, only to have the nebula completely overexposed in order to record anything of the galaxy.
As of February 2004 I now have an SBIG ST-8 camera with CFW-8 filter
wheel. This camera has a larger array then the ST237A, at 1.5 Mega pixels. It captures a larger field
of view, has lower electrical noise and has a second CCD sensor so that it can guide itself! I am very
excited with what this camera is capable of, first light image was the Crab Nebula, below.
Images on these pages are copyright © John C. Mirtle. Images may be used on a personal computer (for wallpaper, etc), or in a non-profit publication (such as a club newsletter) with proper credit to the author. Any commercial or for-profit use is prohibited without permission.
| ST237A Images | ||
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| The Ring Nebula | The Bubble Nebula | Tech Pan/CCD comparison |
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| The Veil Nebula | M56 | Stephan's Quintet |
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| Planetary NGC7662 | NGC604 |
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