Here's an m16 taken last night - a stack of fifteen with each exposure of 6 minutes (1.5 hrs total). Temps are warm in the SW deserts of US but the camera managed -10c. Scope : TMB 152 - f/7.9 Camera: Diffraction Limited STC- 7 Guider: ST402 Mount: AstroPhysics AP900 _..-- Tim
Sure does... Sensors dark current is very low while being very sensitive to the photons. The sensor + cooling + Dark Subtract yields good results. BTW, only three dark frames were used. Not expecting such a good result. M16 is max of 35° elevation and that area of the sky has some light pollution from a certain gambling city in NV (33 mi away). Next week temps will be 43°C highs and 24°C lows. Does DL sell a liquid nitrogen cooled camera?
Our bigger ones like the AC4040 have ports for water cooling - it helps get the heat out. https://diffractionlimited.com/product/aluma-ac4040/ The Front-Side Illuminated Class 2 are in stock; Class 1 are back ordered while we wait on more chips... And we can talk about a vacuum or dewar-based camera if you don't mind the 2nd mortgage on the house...
The AC 4040 / C2 is a good price point. The BSI version would be more desirable, but the price is astronomical. Tim
Like the Teledyne e2v CCD47-10, the GSENSE4040BSI is a back-illuminated chip, and is state-of-the art; I mean, we're almost talking counting every single photon with the 90%+ QE of these chips - slashes exposure time! Basically get 25-50% more done in a night. Plus we know GPixel Inc. makes the chips out of unobtainium... long lead times.
