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None dirty word astro!

Spad
Posted 13/08/2024 - 11:35 Link
This was not taken by a Pentax, but....

Instead this was taken with a cooled Deep Space Object Dedicated Camera, a ZWO ASI183MC Pro. It has a 1in 4/3 sensor at 20mp and 2.4um pixel size. I traded in a couple of Pentax bodies I haven't used in months, and an unused EQ mount.... because for what they are, they are not cheap!

But they are cooled.... really cooled... the sensor can be cooled down to -20°. This makes them extraordinarily sensitive, as well as reducing noise. The advantage of this is (apart from the fore mentioned ones), unlike a DSLR, in which you have to allow the sensor to cool (usually half the time of the exposure) between shots. With this one, you don't. That means you can shoot half as many light frames again.

So.... as you will probably figure out from now on the vast majority of images I'll show you guys, will be taken with this camera!

Enough waffle now....

Comment Image
Edited by Spad: 13/08/2024 - 11:40
Lubbyman
Posted 13/08/2024 - 14:30 Link
Next stop, dark matter? Then Spad into space clutching a monster telescope??

How do you cool it to -20 C? Dry ice? Sooper-dooper refridgerator?

I hope you've kept a Pentax body or two for non-astro photography!

Steve
Spad
Posted 13/08/2024 - 16:40 Link
No idea how it does but it does it!! In the actually camera controls it goes down to -40!!

I still have my K3 and K20d IR. I am hoping to get a K1 next year.
Edited by Spad: 13/08/2024 - 16:42
Lubbyman
Posted 13/08/2024 - 19:27 Link
Spad wrote:
No idea how it does but it does it!!

You tickled my curiosity so I had to find out. It's thermo-electric cooling (TLC). Put two different materials in contact, pass a direct current across the junction and one side heats up, the other cools down. Dispose of heat to atmosphere and you've got a solid-state fridge. That's the principle, anyway, turning it into a practical gizmo seems to be a bit tricky.

From what I can understand of the principle, it's temperature difference that counts so the temperature you dial in might be the difference with respect to ambient rather than the actual temperature of the sensor - perhaps worth checking.

Steve
Posted 13/08/2024 - 23:16 Link
That's a WOW image!!!!

Cheers
Mike
Spad
Posted 13/08/2024 - 23:40 Link
Lubbyman wrote:
[quote:3496ace15f="Spad"]

From what I can understand of the principle, it's temperature difference that counts so the temperature you dial in might be the difference with respect to ambient rather than the actual temperature of the sensor - perhaps worth checking.

Steve

That is correct...

If the ambient temp is 25, the the camera will cool it by 35 degrees to get it to -10. If the cameras max temp (for cooling purposes) is say 30. Then it will only be able to cool it to -5. Mine is cable as of 45....

MikeInDevon wrote:
That's a WOW image!!!!

Cheers
Mike

Thank you!
LennyBloke
Posted 14/08/2024 - 18:58 - Helpful Comment Link
Your Astro shots really are of the highest calibre
LennyBloke
Spad
Posted 15/08/2024 - 02:01 Link
LennyBloke wrote:
Your Astro shots really are of the highest calibre

Thank you!
Aitch53
Posted 15/08/2024 - 13:54 Link
As a matter of interest, what is the object in the image?

If I had to guess, I'd say it was the Spud Nebula.
SteveH!

Some people call me 'strange'.
I prefer 'unconventional'.
But I'm willing to compromise and accept 'eccentric'.
Spad
Posted 15/08/2024 - 20:22 Link
Aitch53 wrote:
As a matter of interest, what is the object in the image?

If I had to guess, I'd say it was the Spud Nebula.

It is NGC6888 Crescent Nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. It's 5000 lightyears from earth, that is 29,500 Trillion miles...
Edited by Spad: 15/08/2024 - 20:23
Aitch53
Posted 17/08/2024 - 11:12 Link
Thank you.
SteveH!

Some people call me 'strange'.
I prefer 'unconventional'.
But I'm willing to compromise and accept 'eccentric'.

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