Meade 04522 Deep Sky Imager Features |
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Affordable Deep Sky Photography |
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| Producing high-quality deep sky photographs used to mean purchasing very expensive equipment and software, as well as possessing an expert's knowledge of focus, exposure, guiding, and processing techniques. Not any more. The Deep Sky Imager from Meade is a breakthrough in CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) astro-imaging that allows astronomers of any skill level to take amazing, high-quality, color images with an easy-to-use camera and software package--all at an affordable price. Supplied USB cables connect the imager to your PC or laptop computer so images are displayed on the computer screen. This package includes Meade's proprietary AutoStar Suite software that automatically sorts, aligns, and combines the best images, producing extremely low-noise, highly-detailed photographs. |
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A Better Digital Imager |
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| With the Deep Sky Imager, Meade's engineers sought to correct deficiencies in existing CCD digital imagers. To increase picture quality, electronic noise is suppressed by turning off the internal power supplies and running the camera on stored energy, while at the same time measuring the intensity of the light captured during exposure. And to make image quality even better, analog and digital circuits are separated into opposite metal chambers with two ground planes. The Deep Sky Imager doesn't compress incoming sensor data and uses a full 16-bit analog-to-digital converter to enhance picture depth, contrast, and dynamic range. Lastly, engineers devised unique methods to reduce image sensor temperature by directing the heat generated by circuits away from the CCD sensor, and by designing the back of imager's aluminum housing to function as a heat sink, both of which result in less noise and the ability to take longer exposures. |
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Fast Downloads, Long Exposures |
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| A USB 2.0 high-speed computer connection lets the Deep Sky Imager transfer data at up to five uncompressed frames per second. Images appear on the computer screen almost as soon as they're taken, making focusing and composing fast and simple. Download time is 0.5 seconds per image for longer exposures to sustain a higher signal-to-noise ratio. There's almost no delay between the time the image is captured and when it is displayed. Additionally, the Deep Sky Imager is backward compatible with USB 1.1 used on some older computers. Downloads are fast, but exposures can be long--up to one hour--which is what you want for the faintest deep sky objects the unaided eye can't even perceive. But not to worry, if you want to snap an image of a bright object--say the full moon--the Deep Sky Imager can do it in as little as 1/10,000th of a second. |
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Works With Any Telescope |
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| As much as Meade would appreciate you using the Deep Sky Imager with one of their telescopes, you don't have to. There's a 1.25" nosepiece on the imager that allows it to fit any telescope with a standard 1.25" focuser. With the included parfocalizing ring, you can focus the imager at the same point as eyepiece being used. You simply center the object you want to capture in the eyepiece and focus. Then just replace the eyepiece with the imager, fine-tune the focus if necessary (using the supplied Magic Eye software-assisted focusing tool), and shoot. |
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Super Software |
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| Meade's AutoStar Suite has tools to adjust color saturation and balance so you won't need aftermarket imaging software to do that. AutoStar will automatically optimize the imager's exposure time, or let you set it yourself. Dark frames are stacked and averaged automatically and then subtracted, removing hot or cold pixels for a clean final image. A software feature called Fix Cold Pixels removes what appear to be holes in images from saturated dark pixels during long exposures, while Fix Hot Pixels eliminates cosmic ray strikes and noise pixels from images. A built-in time-lapse program lets you create movies of Jupiter's rotation, or the transit of its moons across the surface, or any other event you want to show in motion. If you do happen to own a Meade telescope with an AutoStar controller, this software will give you full control over your telescope's hand keypad from your computer keyboard. Also included is the Hubble Guide Star Catalog with over 19 million objects. And to keep your software current, AutoStar Update will download data like the latest comets and firmware revisions over the Internet. Let the Meade Deep Sky Imager with AutoStar Suite allow you to boldly go where no other affordable CCD imager has gone before. |
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Included With Purchase |
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| AutoStar Suite software on CD-ROM, USB cable, LX200 serial cable, #497 AutoStar serial cable, DB-9 to RJ-11 PC serial connection adapter, parfocal ring, and installation/operating instructions. |
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More reasons to buy the Meade 04522 Deep Sky Imager from Vanns.com |
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- Free Shipping!
- No Sales Tax!
- Vanns.com is a Fully Authorized Dealer (Learn More)
- The Meade 04522 Deep Sky Imager is Brand New
- The Meade 04522 Deep Sky Imager Ships in a Factory Sealed Box
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