Page 99 - BBC Sky at Night - September 2017 UK

FIRST LIGHT SEPTEMBER 99

PELTIER COOLING $17,!*/$5("&2$7,1*6
The two-stage Peltier cooling There are anti-reflection coatings on both sides of the optical
system can reduce the operating window over the sensor, and this helps prevent star haloes. Note
temperature to 35º below the that the window does not have an infrared-cut coating, so a
ambient temperature, providing separate 2-inch screw-in filter is recommended for Solar System
a huge reduction in noise. The imaging. It is not required for deep-sky imaging.
ambient temperature at time of
testing was 14°C and a steady
temperature of –15°C was easily
achieved after five minutes.

THREADED
POWER SUPPLY
The threaded connector
and provided cables
prevent accidental power
disconnections, which
can especially occur with
unthreaded connectors when
slewing. Disconnections can
be problematic as the cooling
system shuts down and needs
to be re-enabled. A 12V
power supply is not included.

USB 3.0
CONNECTION

The large file size and high
frame rates that can be
generated by this camera
require a high-speed
connection to download
images as fast as possible.
This is particularly true
when capturing video for
lunar or planetary imaging
and for the ‘live broadcast’
capabilities of the camera.
A USB 3.0 cable is provided.

skyatnightmagazine.com 2017