Detailed information about this product's features  Single-Shot Color
 Interline CCD
This Orion StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 CCD camera sets a new standard in multi-megapixel CCD color imaging affordability for amateur astronomers. The Deep Space Pro V2.0 features a 1.8" format Sony 6.1-megapixel color CCD sensor with a 3032 x 2016 array of 7.8 micron x 7.8 micron pixels. You get over four times the number of pixels of similarly-priced CCD astro cameras with lesser capabilities, and you get it for less than 1/3 the price of other 6 megapixel astro cameras that use the same imaging chip. Its 16-bit dynamic range yields better image depth than all but the priciest DSLRs.
The StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 is an easy-to-use high-performance, thermoelectrically-cooled, 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/high-price multi-megapixel CCD cameras. The Deep Space Pro V2.0’s 7.8 micron square pixels provide an excellent balance between high resolution and sensitivity. You’ll get beautiful, detail-rich shots with enough resolution to make large-format color prints suitable for framing!
With the single-shot color StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0, 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) with a standard built-in cooling fan to dramatically reduce thermal noise. This lets you take uninterrupted exposures of very faint objects for as long as 9.3 hours (over nine times as long as those of similarly-priced uncooled cameras). Cooling a CCD chip greatly reduces the heat-generated electronic noise that adversely affects image quality (especially in warm weather).
With some cameras in cooler weather conditions, condensation can form on the surface of the optical window, due to the temperature of the optical window being affected by the cooled CCD. The enhanced design of the Deep Space Pro V2.0 helps prevent this by increasing the distance between the CCD chip and the optical window. The TEC cooler has a manual shutoff via software control to eliminate dew in extreme outdoor conditions. In addition, the fan speed can also be controlled through the software for precise anti-dewing control.
The made-in-Canada Orion StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 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 StarShoot 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 XP and Vista 32-bit. The Deep Space Pro V2.0 works with any telescope and can also be used as an autoguider. An optional ASCOM driver is available as a free download, allowing you to use the StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 with many types of imaging software.
Features of the Camera . . . - Imaging sensor: High sensitivity/high dynamic range Sony ICX413AQ SuperHAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) 23.4mm x 15.6mm interline color CCD sensor with an internal IR-cut filter. For more details, click on the “Interline" icon above. The camera requires 18mm of in-focus..
- Resolution : 3032 pixels wide x 2016 pixels high (6,112,512 total pixels). Each pixel measures 7.8 microns square.
- One-pass imaging: Color images do not require multiple exposures through color filters as more expensive CCD cameras do.
- Analog to digital conversion: Full 16-bit A/D conversion for greater image depth and contrast – better than most DSLRs, which offer only 10- to 14-bit A/D conversion, even those many times the Deep Space Pro V2.0’s price. Also, unlike DSLRs, the Deep Space Pro V2.0 has no mechanical shutter or mirror to cause vibration problems and eventually wear out. 2x oversampling increases the signal-to-noise ratio.
- Exposure times: From 0.002 second to 9.3 hours. 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) with a fan built into the rear housing to improve cooling efficiency. Cooling reduces electronic noise in the image and allows you to increase the exposure times without a build-up of image-degrading noise. The very efficient TEC cools the camera to 30° centigrade below the ambient temperature.
- Power requirements: Power to the camera, TEC, and fan is supplied by a single 12-volt DC cigarette-lighter plug on a 10’ cable. This lets you connect the camera to a 12-volt rechargeable battery (such as a Celestron 17 amp-hour 12VDC Power Tank, which can simultaneously operate your telescope). The battery should be capable of producing 12 volts DC at 1 ampere.
- USB 2.0: The Deep Space Pro V2.0 uses a high speed USB 2.0 connection to your computer. Combined with subframe downloading, 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 full frame download time is 5 seconds minimum (depending on your computer’s CPU speed).
- Connection to the telescope: The Deep Space Pro V2.0 has a 2" nosepiece that allows you to use it with any telescope having a 2" focuser. 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.
- Dimensions: The StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 measures 6.44" in diameter x 2.34" deep (with nosepiece) and weighs a 28 ounces.
- Included components: You get the MaxIm DL Essentials software on a CD-ROM; the StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 camera II; a 10’ USB 2.0 cable; a 10’ 12VDC power cable with a cigarette lighter plug for connection to a battery or power source; foam-fitted hard carrying case, and an installation and operating instructions manual.
Just because the StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 is advanced doesn’t mean it’s complicated. It is just as user friendly as Orion’s lower-resolution StarShoot color cameras. The Deep Space Pro V2.0 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; permits 2x2 binning; provides easy, real-time focusing assistance; allows the use of the Deep Space Pro V2.0 as a high-precision autoguider; 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. Optional ASCOM drivers are available on the Orion website as a no-cost download, allowing use with many other types of imaging software. The easy-to-use Deep Space Pro V2.0, with its huge increase in pixel count and chip size, will give intermediate and advanced users truly formidable imaging capability, and will give beginning astrophotographers a high-quality camera that they won’t soon outgrow.
Go ahead, compare the features and specs of the Orion StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 with any competitor’s similarly-priced CCD astro camera. Or compare the price of the Deep Space Pro V2.0 with that of other 6-megapixel CCD astro cameras. Either way, you will realize just how revolutionary the StarShoot Deep Space Pro V2.0 really is.
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