CCD Imaging and Image Processing

Abstract

The advent of affordable CCD (Charge Coupled Device) cameras has transformed amateur astronomy. Not only are they around ten times more sensitive to light than conventional film, they deliver a digitised image which is easy to enhance and analyse using a personal computer. Gone are the days when dark room wizardry was a prerequisite for successful imaging. We have already seen in Chapter 6 that real scientific work, such as astrometry and photometry, is now routinely carried out using these devices. Even for the amateur, with more modest ambitions, CCD cameras now enable spectacular images to be captured from urban back gardens, where light polluted skies have rendered conventional observing almost impossible.