Astronomy Brochure
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an Oxford Instruments company Unparalleled flexibility and functionality

ANDOR CAMERAS FOR ASTRONOMY Andor is the partner of choice for professional astronomers first and foremost due to the quality of our cameras. It places into the hands of the user a tool of unparalleled flexibility and functionality, which has been built into a robust and reliable framework. The hardware and software design allows seamless integration into a system of any complexity. It is therefore no surprise that when looking for a cutting edge, reliable camera to operate in some of the world’s most challenging conditions and sites, people look to Andor. Why ‘off-the-shelf’? Increasingly...

r vice and Production Knowle We say we are driven; not only do we continually seek new challenges, we strive to improve what we presently offer. The most important motivation for this drive is the Andor user community. ANDOR DRIVEN TO EXCEL 1997 Introduce first vacuum technology which became UltraVac 1999 First dedicated imaging camera Large area camera, iKon-L 2007 Clara, the deepest cooled and most sensitive interline CCD iXon EMCCD Camera, introducing groundbreaking EMCCD technology Andor’s Added Value 2012 Introduction of EX2 Technology offering extended QE response RealGain and EMCal...

CONSTELLATIONS OF ANDOR CAMERAS Typical Applications Applications that require a Large Solar Astronomy, Lucky Imaging, Field of View; on top of Fast Frame Speckle Imaging, Exoplanets, Rate, Low Noise, Temporal and Near Earth Objects [NEO] High Spatial Resolution. Which type of camera do I need? To help you choose we have listed the main attributes of the three different camera types along with some suitable applications. Zyla 5.5 sCMOS Neo 5.5 sCMOS Typically < 40 Photons per pixel Typical Applications Applications with low Photon Flux, demanding Fast Frame Rate with High QE and Temporal...

EMCCD TECHNOLOGY EMCCDs operate by amplification of weak signal events to a signal level that is well clear of the read noise floor of the camera, at any readout speed. Importantly, this ‘on-chip’ amplification process is realized without sacrificing the photon collection capability of the sensor. Back-illuminated sensors offer greater than 90% Quantum Efficiency (QE). The single photon sensitivity of EMCCDs renders them unbeatable in the low light regime of few to tens of incident photons per pixel. This may sound very low, but there are a surprising amount of applications that fall within...

iXon EMCCD Range The iXon portfolio encompasses a number of model variations, offering solutions for a wide range of application requirements. Whether your ultrasenstive requirements need further refinement by demands on speed, resolution, field of view or wavelength dependence, the iXon series of market-leading EMCCD cameras will provide a solution. iXon Series Largest Field of View EMCCD... Supercharged! Ultimate Sensitivity...Supercharged Lightning Speed and Sensitivity Pixel format Pixel size Frame rate 26fps (670 fps with 128x128 cropped mode) 56 fps (595 fps with 128 x 128 cropped...

Largest Field of View EMCCD...Supercharged! Ultimate Sensitivity...Supercharged! Building on a rich history of first to market innovation, the ‘supercharged’ iXon Ultra 888, represents a massive performance boost for the largest available EMCCD sensor, as well as the first USB 3.0 enabled EMCCD camera. The iXon Ultra 888 has been fundamentally re-engineered to facilitate 3x overclocking of the pixel readout speed to an unprecedented 30 MHz, whilst maintaining quantitative stability, thrusting the full frame rate performance to video rate. Furthermore, Andor’s unique ‘Crop Mode’ can be...

iXon3 860 Lightning Speed and Sensitivity This incredible speed augment with the EM capability of the camera has made it the camera of choice for the AO community as a Wave Front Sensor [WFS]. To further enhance it’s capabilities as a WFS we can supply an accessory splitter box, giving direct access to the raw data straight off the head. Key Specifications Active pixels Active area pixel wall depth (e ) Frame rate (fps; full frame) Quantum Efficiency (%) The iXon3 860 is the smallest sensor with the largest pixel pitch. The camera in full frame can clock at 513 fps. However, with Andor’s...

EMCCD Case Studies Flickering Aurora Earth-like Exoplanets High Temporal Resolution Measurement Gravitational Microlensing The beautiful light displays known as aurora occur when energetic charged particles collide with atoms in the high-altitude regions of the atmosphere. One type of aurora, known as flickering aurora, rapidly fluctuates in a manner similar to the reaction of a candle’s flame to a sudden draft of air. Researchers from Tohoku University in Japan used an Andor iXon Electron Multiplying CCD (EMCCD) astronomy camera to learn more about flickering aurora. This type of aurora...

Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) is a breakthrough technology that offers an advanced set of features that render it ideal to high fidelity, quantitative scientific measurement, overcoming many of the performance drawbacks and trade-offs associated with CCDs. (SCIENTIFIC CMOS) sCMOS TECHNOLOGY This evolutionary camera is becoming the imager of choice for a gamut of astronomical applications. It is already popular with solar astronomers imaging the entire sun due to high spatial resolution and fast frame rates, enhancing observation of solar activities to realise new insights. The same camera can...

The Neo is Andor’s flagship platform. The vacuum-cooled camera has been engineered to realize the absolute highest performance potential of this exciting new technology. Neo offers an advanced set of unique performance features and innovations, including deep vacuum TE cooling to -40°C, extensive on-head FPGA data processing capability, a 4GB memory buffer and a Data Flow Monitor. Neo’s differentiators from the Zyla are its deep cooling and 4 GB memory buffer. The Neo is a perfect camera for such observatories and has already been placed in arrays for solar astronomy and transient technique...