Astronomy Now: USB 2.0 Astronomy Cameras Up for Grabs

Blogged by Jonathan Maron on March 31, 2008 and tagged with Press.

If you are based in the UK, stop what you are doing and go to your local newsagents to purchase a copy of this month's Astronomy Now magazine - the UK's best selling astronomy magazine.

Turn immediately to page 24 and read the following:

Win Next Generation USB 2.0 CCD Cameras,
courtesy of The Imaging Source

If you want to capture images of the night sky, then you're in luck! Astronomy Now has teamed up with The Imaging Source to give you a chance to win a next generation USB 2.0 astronomy CCD camera. The first prize is a DMK 41AU02.AS monochrome camera worth over £660. It offers a resolution of 1280 x 960, a capture rate of 15 fps and an exposure time of up to 60 minutes.

Two runners-up will each receive a DMK 21AU04.AS monochrome camera worth £295 each. This model has a resolution of 640 x 480, a capture rate of 60 fps and an exposure time of up to 60 minutes. Both cameras employ extremely low noise Sony CCDs and ship with the renowned camera control software, IC Capture.AS. This enables you not only to set camera parameters, but also to save single images and image sequences. The resulting uncompressed AVI files can be loaded into Registax or similar image processing software.

It's simple to get up and running - you just need to connect the camera's USB 2.0 cable to a PC running Windows XP or Vista, install the software, mount the camera on your telescope and, hey presto, you're all ready to start snapping the night sky.

Want to enter? The magazine contains details on what you have to do. :-)

To help you locate the magazine, just look out for The Imaging Source astronomy cameras on the cover:

Good luck to all who participate in this great competition!

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