Which new ASI should i buy?

swedennightsky

I'm looking to purchase one of the new asi cameras , I use a CPC 9.25 telescope and would like to do some lunar and planet imaging then later on try some dso imaging when i buy a new reflector scope.

I'm here living in Sweden which is quite cold during winter it gets down to -20

would i need a cooled version?

And of course which model should i buy?

Thanks in advance

Richard

Oh and my compter spec is an i7 3770 3.4ghz with 32 gb of ram so it should run usb 3.0 cameras?

riklaunim

If color then ASI224 and if mono then ASI174.

Note 1: planetary cameras have relatively small sensors so for DSO imaging you will have framing problems (it won't fit etc.) with most telescopes (only very short focal lengths will work for medium/big DSO).

Note 2: there will be cooled variants of those cameras soon (improves DSO imaging)

Note 3: DSO imaging usually needs guiding (unless you do very tricky DSO imaging on very short exposures) so the planetary camera may be just a guider, while for the DSO imaging camera you can pick something bigger/dedicated or DSLR.

swedennightsky

Ah ok

I have a DSLR so hopefully you've answered my question so I guess its the fact of do I wait for a cooled version

swedennightsky

This may be a stupid question but what is best a colour or mono for planet imaging

ndb

Not a stupid question at all !

I always imaged planets with a mono camera (better sensitivity, no interpolation, all possible filters) until I tried the color ASI224MC and I suddenly got tired of using WinJupOs!

The ASI 224, 185 and 178 color cameras have a very low noise, hence more acceptable gain to shorten exposures. You can have a stronger sampling rate to compensate for the interpolation.

In addition they can image in near infrared, like a mono one.

And about 75% less work thanks to color imaging is not to be neglected (in trichromy you have to separately stack and process each image, align the 3 images and process the resulting color image).

Another difference should appear with jovian moons, which lead to a trichromic trailing (like a small rainbow) in trichromic imaging with WinJupOs, while a color camera can shoot an equal number of frames about three times faster, leading to better snapshots.

For simplicity and performance, consider a color camera (224 is the best).

If you have an achromat or a semi-apochromat, consider a monochrome one.

Nicolas

swedennightsky

Ah ok

Is there a big difference in the 174 mc compared to the 224 mc?

I notice it's a little more pricey so what are you paying more for?

Please excuse the amateur questions but I'm very new to ccd cameras

riklaunim

mono (174) allows you to use some filters, like specialized planetary or narrowband/UHC for DS imaging.

ndb

Yes, mono is undoubtly better but I obtained images with an ASI224MC and a 6-nm Halpha filter on Pickering's Triangle. Images of Saturn with a CH4 filter were perfect too (not from I), compared to monochrome cameras.

For other filters (e.g. OIII or LPR filters) the peaks in sensitivity of the color sensor have to match the filter's bandpass while an IMX174 mono will perform with absolutely all filters.

Apart from the color / mono diference, the 174 has a larger surface, larger photosites and more photosites for a wider field and easy adaptation on a wider variety of optics. It also has more noise but this remains very limited for a CMOS.

Nicolas.

sumon roy

I think Mono (174) is always a better option with all its features available, price is higher but its worthy of it.

katherine.tsai

You can calculate the suitbality on this site.

https://astronomy.tools/calculators/ccd_suitability

And check the field of view with your telescope and different cameras.

http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/