As most of you are I am sure aware, Saturn is quickly sinking out of visual reach and will orient itself in the next few weeks such that we will not be able to see any of the magnificent rings captured by The Imaging Source astronomy cameras for some time to come.

Below is a fabulous shot by a DMK 41AF02.AS user that has had a few snaps make it in to the Astronomy Cameras Blog, Tommy Hartline (click for original):

In his e-mail to The Imaging Source, Tommy wrote:

Hi Profjohn,

Here is a recent pic I took with the DBK 41AF02.AS high res color camera. The images were taken on 5/3/2008 in Texas. 2500 frames of Saturn and possibly my best of Saturn, to date.

Thanks Profjohn!

Good Job Tommy!
profjohn

It seems that May 2008 is the month for reviews of The Imaging Source astronomy cameras in the German press!

Here in Germany, there are only two mainstream astronomy magazines:

• Sterne und Weltraum
• Interstellarum

Yesterday, we announced that Sterne und Weltraum had published a very detailed comparative test report.

Today, I am delighted to announce that the other magazine Interstellarum has just published a test report in their June/July 2008 issue. The article was written by Prof. Dr. Ullrich Dittler.

The author commences his text by presenting a very technical view of the cameras and in turn compares them with some webcams, currently available on the market.

He then turns his attention to the shipped software IC Capture.AS, stating (translated from German):

IC Capture.AS is very intuitive to use, but at the same time, fulfills complex requirements.

And concludes his article with (translated from German):

Without a doubt, the domain of The Imaging Source cameras is to capture objects in our Solar System. [They] are the ideal next step for owners of webcams and for this purpose, they can be highly recommended [...]

Again, I motivate you to go to your local newsstand, if you are based in Germany or a German-speaking country and buy this magazine.

All of us, here at The Imaging Source, send out a great thanks to Prof. Dr. Ullrich Dittler for his time and attention to write and have published this article.

As we recently announced, the article by Christian and Peter Wellmann has just been published in the German magazine Sterne und Weltraum.

The extremely detailed article - a mammoth 10 pages all together - looks at eight astronomy cameras from The Imaging Source and compares them with those from Watec and Philips.

If you are based in Germany, or a German-speaking country, we suggest that you go to your local newstand and purchase a copy of this great magazine. The article alone is worth the cost of the magazine.

Look out for The Imaging Source astronomy cameras on the cover of the magazine:

In conclusion to his article, the author writes (translated from German):

The DMK 21AU04.AS monochrome camera holds the undisputed first place for demanding planetary astro-photography [...]

All of us, here at The Imaging Source, send out a great thanks to Christian and Peter for their exceptional work on this article.

We are delighted to announce that as of May 2008, Gerd Neumann Jr. is an official reseller of The Imaging Source astronomy cameras. The company stocks the full range of astronomy products, manufactured by The Imaging Source.

You can visit their store in Münster, Germany and online at www.gerd.neumann.net.

The web site is full of detailed product information about The Imaging Source astronomy cameras and offers plentiful advice, for those looking to place an order. The reseller explains in detail the differences between monochrome and color cameras and even the significance of the product codes.

All of this great information is illustrated by a number of sample images, captured by Mr. Neumann personally. For example, below is an image of Copernicus (click for original):

We welcome Gerd Neumann Jr. to our network of resellers and wish them healthy sales!

Peter Wellmann wrote to us recently to announce that in the next issue of Sterne und Weltraum - a German astronomy magazine - there will be a ten page article reviewing The Imaging Source astronomy cameras in comparison to cameras from competing manufacturers. The magazine will appear on May 21, 2008 on newsstands throughout the German speaking world and other European countries.

In addition to this announcement, Peter also sent us a delightful sample image, which he captured with a DMK 41AU02.AS on April 13, 2008 from his home town of Munich in southern Germany (click to enlarge):

Accompanying his images, he wrote the following (translated from German):

The image was captured on April 13, 2008 by the amateur astronomers Christian and Peter Wellmann in Munich. A Meade 12″ SC telescope with achromatic Celestron 2x Barlow were used. The Barlow allowed the focal length to be extended to seven meters. The camera was a DMK 41AU02.AS, manufactured by The Imaging Source. 850 frames were captured all together. Post-processing was with Registax and Giotto. Processing was not particularly easy, as the region of interest was exactly on the terminator and consequently especially dark. In the end, two image were over-laid to form a mosaic, making the final image around fifty percent larger than the resolution of the DMK 41AU02.AS.

The large crater at the top left of the image in Ptolemaeus, right of that, Albategnius and below Alphonsus and Arzachel. Inside Ptolemaeus, a large number of small craters and structures are clearly visible. Such details are rare on lunar images. The largest of these structures is a very noticeable round crater with a diameter of around 9 kilometers. The smallest structure, which can be observed, is around one kilometer in diameter. This is equivalent to an angle resolution of less than 0.5 arc seconds. This lies at the theoretical limit of the resolution offered by 12″ optics and illustrate the fantastic quality of the Meade 12″ R-Optic telescope. Furthermore, it proves that the DMK 41AU02.AS is one of the best cameras on the market to capture lunar images.

A great thanks goes out to Peter from all at The Imaging Source for his work on this contribution to the astronomy cameras blog. We are waiting - with baited breath - to read the article which will appear in Sterne und Weltraum tomorrow.