Frame transfer CCDs to study distant light sources
The Chinese Small Telescope Array (CSTAR), situated above the South Pole, is using four highly sensitive frame transfer CCD cameras to record faint, transient sources of light, such as supernovae, gamma- ray bursts and minor planets. CSTAR operates totally
robotically, and is part of the PLATeau Observatory (PLATO) – an automated, self-powered astrophysical site testing observatory developed by the University of New South Wales (Australia). Four DV435 1k x 1k cameras from Andor record the light captured by four separate 14.5cm Schmidt-Cassegrain optical telescopes that form the CSTAR. CSTAR has been deployed on Dome A – the highest point on the Antarctic plateau, which is an ideal site for high-resolution imaging since the extremely cold temperatures means very low levels of both background infrared and water vapour content.
PeoPLe
l Northwire Technical Cable has appointed mark Johnson as the company’s vice president of operations.
l PPT Vision has appointed David wick as vice-president
of sales and marketing.
l Edmund Optics (EO), a provider of optical components, has elected Dr John schaefer to its board of directors.
Vision system deployed to Australian troops
Australian land forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are using a vision system for EO/IR sensors on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to detect and track potential threats in real time. Since 2006, the ScanEagle UAS
from Insitu has delivered tactical aerial reconnaissance support to Australian land forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through collaboration with Insitu Pacifi c, Sentient, Australian specialist in computer
vision technology, has successfully deployed Kestrel, a real-time vision system for EO/IR sensors, with the ScanEagle UAS. ‘Kestrel brings the capability to analyse live ScanEagle imagery from the battlefi eld into both the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) and Remote Video Terminal (RVT),’ said Dr Paul Boxer, managing director of Sentient. ‘It assists in detecting potential threats in real-time.’
As three of the telescopes have specially chosen fi lters, and one is fi lter-less, CSTAR can produce a very data-rich photometric catalogue as it records the night sky. During fi eld trials, more than 10,000 sources of light, down to ~16th magnitude, were successfully detected during each 30-second exposure. This makes CSTAR ideal for studying any variability in these sources, and for discovering new transient sources of light that fall within its fi eld of view. Frame transfer technology is perfect for this application since it does not require a mechanical shutter – a prerequisite for trouble- free operation when temperatures can fall to -80°C.
In Andor DV435 frame transfer CCDs, half the chip is covered by an opaque mask for image storage and the other half exposed to the signal. This allows for rapid acquisition of sequences of image data at the peak quantum effi ciency of approximately 95 per cent.
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