Charge-Coupled Device - How The Devices Work, Applications In Astronomy, Ccds, Professionals, And Amateurs
image light cameras modern
Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) have made possible a revolution in image processing. They consist of a series of light-sensitive elements, called pixels, arranged in a square or rectangular array. When CCDs are exposed to light, an image of the object being observed is formed; this image can be extracted from the CCD and stored on a computer for later analysis. CCDs are used in a variety of modern instruments, ranging from scanners and photocopiers to video cameras and digital still cameras. They have transformed the way scientists measure and chart the universe. Because CCDs are available in a wide price range, they are accessible to amateurs as well as professionals, and enable both to make significant contributions to modern astronomy.
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All CCDs work on the same principle. The CCD surface is a grid of pixels (pixel is a contraction for "picture element"). Small CCDs may have a grid of 256 x 256 pixels, while large CCDs may have 4,096 x 4,096 pixel grids. Although many CCD pixel grids are square, this is not always the case; scanners and photocopiers, for example, have a single line of pixels that passes over the pic…
Astronomers began using charge-coupled devices in their work in the early 1980s, when the increasing power and clock speed of semiconductors, and the computers needed to drive the hardware and analyze the data became both fast and affordable. Almost every field of astronomy was directly impacted by CCDs: for observations of asteroids, galaxies, stars, and planets, whether by direct imaging or the …
With web-based star catalogues and other Internet and electronic resources, such as the Hubble Guide Star Catalog and the Lowell Observatory Asteroid Database, professional and amateur astronomers have begun sharing resources and comparing data in hopes of creating a more accurate and complete picture of the heavens. Organizations such as the Amateur Sky Survey help individuals coordinate and shar…
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