CCD System Issues (Abstract)

Volume 21 number 1 (1992)

Eric R. Craine

Western Research Company, Tucson, AZ

Abstract

(Abstract only) Initial purchase decisions for CCD systems intended for small observatory use often do not take into consideration all of the relevant system issues, particularly those related to eventual real costs of the system. We discuss such collateral subjects as telescope mount and pointing capabilities as related to CCD imaging, filters, data storage, and transport techniques, and data reduction and analysis software packages. Specific examples of some of the potential areas of difficulty are examined, as are some of the real system costs which may be encountered.