Abstract
The front line detectors for almost all astronomers are their own eyes. For many, especially when using smaller telescopes, these are also the only detectors. The eye, or more particularly vision, which is the result of the eye and brain acting in concert, is, however, a very complex phenomenon, and some knowledge of its peculiarities is essential for the observer. Thus reference has already been made in Chap. 8 to averted vision, the effect of high contrasts (known as irradiation) and the combination of sub-resolution features (Martian canals). The structure of the whole eye (Fig. 9.1) is well known from school, and need not be considered further here. It is the structure of the eye’s detector, the retina, which is of importance.
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Notes
- 1.
The p-i-n photodiode is also a possibility, but only for photometry of point sources (Chap. 11).
- 2.
Most of modern electronics is based upon silicon chips that have had very small quantities of other elements added to the silicon – a process called “doping.” Some additives enable the negative electrons to carry an electric current, producing n-type silicon; other additives cause the electric current to be carried by the positive holes, producing p-type silicon. For further details the interested reader is referred to physics and electronics texts.
- 3.
Briefly the Peltier effect is that if two suitable materials are joined in an electrical circuit with a current flowing around it, one junction cools down while the other heats up. Suitable materials include N- and P-doped bismuth telluride, lead telluride, antimony, bismuth, germanium and silicon.
- 4.
The term “gray scaling” is also used for the process of converting a color image to a black and white one.
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Kitchin, C.R. (2013). Detectors and Imaging. In: Telescopes and Techniques. Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4891-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4891-4_9
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