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Homemade Astronomical CCD Cameras

Charged coupled device (CCD) cameras excel at capturing images of the moon and planets. You can modify a CCD-based webcam and attach it to a telescope to photograph the Earth's natural satellite and planetary neighbors.

Function
- You can modify CCD-based webcams---including the Philips ToUcam Pro 740K, Creative EX Pro and D-Link NetQam---to connect to the focuser of a reflector or refractor telescope. Modifying the webcam involves removing the lens to expose the CCD chip and attaching a plastic tube that is 1.25 inches in diameter.
Use
- A modified CCD webcam fits into the 1.25-inch focuser used on most telescopes. You must use the webcam with video capture software running on a computer to record the images produced by the telescope. You can then inspect the individual frames from the recordings and select the best frames to use as still images.
Considerations
- Not all webcams use CCD chips. Less expensive models tend to use complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chips, which are unsuitable for astrophotography. Make sure you purchase a webcam that uses a CCD chip if you want to use the camera for capturing images of the moon and planets.

Astronomy