Many DMK users both in and out of the Astronomy business have called and written in recently questioning me on the spectral sensitivity and quantum efficiency of The Imaging Source cameras. Well, most if not all of these questions are answered by me pointing the DMK user to what we at The Imaging Source refer to as our “The White Papers“. This extensive collection of references include topics on basics optics, CCD electronics, and color interpolation. Although not deemed a DMK users manual, the material covered is extensive and well worth a look for all of The Imaging Source clients.

In 1994 I joined an professional academic organization that is committed to supporting all levels of physics, astronomy, and physical science educators from K-12, to College, to Post-University. The American Association of Physics Teachers, or AAPT, is filled with interesting, intriguing, and somewhat quirky characters from all over the United States and 29 countries abroad. Established in 1930, the vision of the group is to be the leaders in physics education via “dissemenation of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching.”

By organizing bi-annual meetings, they continue to commit themselves to provide the most current resources and up-to-date research needed to enhance a physics educator’s professional development. The 2007 National Summer Meeting of the AAPT was held in Greensboro, North Carolina this past week. Just 1.5 hours from our Charlotte office, The Imaging Source sent me to showcase The Next Generation of Astronomy Cameras and show its continued support for science education by throwing a party!

The First Annual Physics Educators Appreciation Reception was a great success and well attended. Participants had a chance to “play” with the DFK 21AF04.AS and its siblings in a variety of settings including telescope and microscope applications. The event lasted late into the night and concluded with a live raffle. The winners of The Imaging Source cameras are Ester Zirbel, a Astronomy Professor from Tufts and Bob DeSario an Atomic Physicist from the University of Florida. A good time was had by all and I thank the participants, the AAPT Organizers, and The Imaging Source for suppoting our leading science educators and my good friends!

Congrats to the raffle winners from Profjohn, AstronomyCamears.com, and The Imaging Source!

Not wishing to be out-done by Tom Hartline or by compatriot Jean-Luc Dauvergne, Sébastien Aubry of Astropodcast.fr has also submitted a very high resolution mosaic image of the moon that he has shot:

Click on the above image to see the full resolution version, or download the original, uncompressed TIF version (36 MB).

He used The Imaging Source DMK 21AF04.AS to capture the image. It was assembled from 60 images of 60 individual movies, each at 30 fps, using a Skywatcher 120/900 ED and a 2.5x barlow.

The capture time was kept to a reasonable one and a half hours, thanks to the high transfer rate of the DMK 21AF04.AS. The processing, however, during which the mosaic image was assembled, took considerably longer. Acquisition and stacking was performed on a Mac, using AstroIIDC, while processing and assembly was done in Photoshop.

Thanks goes to Sébastien for submitting this image.

Have you taken a high resolution image of the moon? If you have, why not send it to us and we will publish it here in the blog and in the sample images archive.

I recently blogged about Oliver Pettenpaul and his comprehensive review of The Imaging Source DMK 21AF04.AS. In the meantime, he has been busy shooting more spectacular images with his astronomy camera. Click for originals, which are stored on this web site astro-imaging.de.

Saturn, captured with The Imaging Source DMK 21AF04.AS at 15 fps:

Sunspot region NOAA10966, captured with The Imaging Source DMK 21AF04.AS at 60 fps:

My good friend Tom Hartline from Burleson, TX, USA would like to share a nice moon mosaic with the DMK community. Utilizing a DBK 21AF04 Tommy recorded 1500 frames per AVI and stacked them nicely to get this wonderful shot. Click to enlarge:

Keep up the awesome work Tommy, your friends at The Imaging Source applaud your diligence!