Orion

More Information  · Recommended Accessories  · Images of Some Features Price $399.95 $499.95 SAVE: $100.00 (20%) Pixel Array 752 x 582 Pixel Size 8.6 x 8.3 microns Weight 14 oz. Warranty 1 year

   Single-Shot Color
   Interline CCD

This Orion StarShoot Deep-Space Color Imager II sets a new standard in affordable, high-technology CCD color imaging for amateur astronomers. The StarShoot Deep Space Imager II is an easy-to-use high-performance single-shot color electronic camera that allows every astronomer – including you – to shoot and process stunning deep sky images of galaxies, nebulas, star clusters, and planets their first night out. And you can do it with a minimum of fuss and at a fraction the cost of conventional big-name CCD cameras.

With the single-shot color StarShoot, every image is a full-color image. There’s no need to shoot separate exposures through multiple filters to get a single color image, as you must with some competing cameras. For more details, click on the “Single-Shot" icon above.

The StarShoot has an image-enhancing feature that similarly-priced competing CCD cameras do not offer – built-in thermoelectric cooling (TEC) that lets you take uninterrupted exposures up to 100 minutes long (almost twice the length of those competitive uncooled cameras). Cooling a CCD chip greatly reduces the heat-generated electronic noise that adversely affects image quality (especially in warm weather). The highly efficient TEC in the StarShoot is powered by only two D-cell flashlight batteries (not supplied).

The Orion Star Shoot includes software customized from the leading CCD imaging utility on the market (MaxIm DL). The MaxIm DL Essentials Edition software that you get with the Star Shoot provides real-time focusing assistance, easy image capture and stacking, and powerful image processing tools. It now includes even more image-processing features, as well as batch processing and multiple-camera support. The software works with Windows 98, 2000, ME, and XP. It even works with Windows Vista, something competitive cameras cannot yet do. Why wait for an uncooled competitive camera to update its software to work with the latest Windows program? The Orion StarShoot Deep Space Imager II works with Vista now!

The StarShoot II works with any telescope and also can be used as an autoguider for long-exposure astrophotography. A USB cable is supplied to connect your imager to your PC or laptop, so you can display your images on your computer screen and store them to print out later and display. Power for the camera itself is supplied by your computer via the included USB cable, but the thermoelectric cooler needs a separate external 3VDC battery-pack power supply. Some computers have USB ports that are known to not meet the USB specification for the output voltage. These computers may not be able to run the StarShoot II without the use of an external powered hub. The vast majority of computers, however, meet the proper USB specification, and should have no problems running the StarShoot II off the regular USB power supplied by your computer.

Features of the Camera . . .

• Imaging sensor: High sensitivity/high dynamic range Sony ExView HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) 429AKL interline color CCD sensor. For more details, click on the “Interline" icon above. Sensitivity and dynamic range are higher than the previous StarShoot Deep Space Imager and are comparable to imagers costing well over $1000. Increased sensitivity reduces the exposure times needed to record faint objects. The wider dynamic range lets the camera record fainter objects without having bright stars in the field saturate the chip. The brightness range between the brightest and faintest objects in the image is correspondingly greater, showing more and fainter objects.
  
  
• One-pass imaging: Color images do not require multiple exposures through color filters as more expensive CCD cameras do.
  
  
• Resolution : 752 pixels wide x 582 pixels high (437,664 total pixels). Each pixel measures 8.6 microns wide x 8.3 microns high.
  
  
• Analog to digital conversion: Full 16-bit A/D conversion for greater image depth and contrast. 2x oversampling increases the signal-to-noise ratio.
  
  
• Exposure times: From 1/1000th of a second to 100 minutes. This allows you to record images of bright lunar and planetary features as well as faint deep sky nebulas and galaxies that the unaided eye could never perceive, all in full color.
  
  
• Thermoelectric cooling: Built-in thermoelectric cooler (TEC) to reduce electronic noise in the image and increase exposure times without a build-up of image-degrading noise. The very efficient TEC cools the camera to 36° Fahrenheit below the ambient temperature and is powered by two D-cell flashlight batteries that fit into the supplied battery pack. The battery pack will typically run the TEC for about 20 hours of continuous operation. If you plan on multiple nights of summertime imaging (while on vacation, for example), a useful addition might be an optional external power source (such as a Celestron 12VDC rechargeable Power Tank battery, which has a 3VDC output tap that will duplicate the 3V output of the two D-cell batteries in the standard battery pack, in addition to its normal 12VDC output for operating your telescope). The camera also can be used without thermoelectric cooling, which is often unneeded when imaging in very cold weather (around or below freezing).
  
  
• USB 2.0: The StarShoot uses a fast USB 2.0 high speed connection to your computer. This allows fast data transfer for lunar and planetary imaging that lets you see your images almost as soon as you take them, making focusing and composing quick and easy. The StarShoot is also backward compatible with USB 1.1.
  
  
• IR filter: To become familiar with the camera and how to use it, Orion recommends that you take your first images during the day, when it is easier to read the instruction manual. A removable IR (infrared) filter is supplied that improves the contrast during daytime imaging. The filter is generally left in place during nighttime imaging, except for specific types of astronomical imaging. For example, it is recommended that this filter be removed from the camera when imaging red nebulas that radiate strongly in H-alpha.
  
  
• Connection to the telescope: The StarShoot has a 1.25" nosepiece that allows you to use it with any telescope having a 1.25" focuser. A supplied parfocalizing ring lets you focus the StarShoot at the same point as a favorite eyepiece in the 10mm focal length range. With the previously parfocalized eyepiece in your scope, center in the eyepiece the object you want to take a picture of and focus. Then, simply replace the eyepiece with the StarShoot, and shoot. The nosepiece can also be unthreaded to reveal standard 42mm female T-threads in the front plate of the camera, which allow you to thread the camera onto any standard camera adapter, tele-extender, off-axis guider, etc.
  
  
• Power requirements: No batteries or power supplies are required for imaging. Just plug the StarShoot’s USB cable into your laptop or PC and you are ready to image or autoguide. Your computer provides the camera’s power. No other power supply is needed for the camera. Two D-cell batteries or an external power supply is needed to power the thermoelectric cooler.
  
  
• Dimensions: The compact made-in-the-USA StarShoot measures only 4" in diameter x 1.65" deep and weighs a mere 14 ounces, so balancing your telescope with the camera on will not require additional counterweights.

• Included components: You get the MaxIm DL Essentials software on a CD-ROM; the StarShoot Deep Space Imaging Camera II; an IR filter; a USB Cable; a battery pack that holds two D-cell flashlight batteries (batteries not supplied) to power the TEC; a parfocal ring, and an installation and operating instructions manual.
  
  
• Computer requirements: The minimum computer configuration is a Pentium or higher computer; 64 MB of RAM minimum; 67 MB of available hard-drive space for program installation (in addition, a 100 MB swap file is recommended); CD-ROM drive; Windows 2000/XP/Vista; 800x600 16-bit color video display (1024x768 or higher is recommended); mouse; and a USB 1.1 port (USB 2.0 is recommended).

The StarShoot Deep-Space CCD Color Imaging Camera II comes with MaxIm DL Essentials Edition image capture and processing software. MaxIm DL has long been known as the leading software program for CCD imaging. The MaxIm DL Essentials program displays the target object on your PC screen; automatically captures multiple exposures; automatically aligns and stacks a series of images, using state-of-the-art techniques, to provide an extremely low noise, highly detailed single composite color image; provides easy, real-time focusing assistance; allows the use of the StarShoot as a high-precision autoguider for a larger CCD camera; and more. It includes the tools to adjust color saturation and balance, eliminating the need to use Photoshop or other aftermarket tools to accomplish this pre-publication step.

No matter how you look at it – one-shot color image capability, pixel count, improved sensitivity; built-in thermoelectric cooling, advanced MaxIm DL Essentials software – the Orion StarShoot Deep Space II CCD camera is one of the best-equipped and easiest-to-use CCD cameras available.