Starlight Xpress Oculus All-Sky Camera w/ 180 Degree Lens

Oculus is the latest introduction to the innovative portfolio of Starlight Xpress products. The Oculus uses a SuperHAD CCD from Sony which has all of the wonderful benefits of an interline Sony CCD, such as incredibly low thermal noise and very fast electronic shutter (no need for mechanical shutters). With exceedingly low noise electronics and a fast f/2 180-degree fisheye lens, capturing the night sky is an absolute dream.

The Oculus is USB powered and driven but does require a 12DC input to drive the built-in anti-dew heaters. The software supplied allows you to capture a series of exposures and add them together to create a dramatic AVI movie of the night sky.

This is the perfect camera for imaging meteor showers, viewing the weather conditions at a remote observatory and imaging the night sky in a spectacular way.

Starlight Xpress Oculus All-Sky Camera with 180 Lens Highlights:

Efficient Lens System:The lens used in the Oculus is a high quality, multi-coated fisheye lens with a 180 field of view. With a very low f/2 focal ratio, the light gathering capacity of this small lens is incredibly good and imaging the night sky is very simple.

Weatherproofing:Permanently mounting electronic equipment outside in all weathers is always a concern. With the Oculus, great care has been taken during the design process to reduce weather affects on the camera. Four drain holes have been machined into the outer flange at the base of the dome allowing water to simply run off the dome and down the outside of the housing. The housing has a beautiful bead blasted, clear anodized finish which is hard wearing and looks stunning.

Dome Construction:The dome is a quality, high polished polycarbonate 3-inch dome with the lens positioned at the optimum point in the dome to ensure there is no distortion in the star field.

Mounting & Rear Panel:The Oculus comes with a right angled aluminum tripod bracket to secure it to the side of your dome or building. This has the standard tripod thread on the base but can also be easily drilled and adapted for other mounting options.

The USB cable comes fitted to the Oculus and can be extended using powered USB 2.0 hubs. The Oculus also has a 2.1 mm power socket in the rear to allow the power supply to connect and power the heaters in the Oculus to ensure the dome does not dew up during the evening.

Starlight Xpress Oculus All-Sky Camera with 180 Lens Specifications:

• CCD Type: ICX205AL Sony SuperHAD interline CCD with low dark current and vertical anti-blooming
• CCD Full Resolution Pixel Data: Pixel size: 4.65 uM x 4.65 uM, Image format: 1392 x 1040 pixels
• CCD Quality: Grade 1
• Spectral Response: QE max at 520 nM (~50-percent), 30-percent at 420 nM and 670 nM
• Readout Noise: RMS – typically only 7 electrons
• Full-well Capacity: Greater than 15,000e- (un-binned)
• Anti-blooming: Overload margin greater than 1000x
• Dark Current: Less than 0.1 electrons/second @ + 10C ambient
• Data Format: 16 bits
• Lens Details: f/2 180 degree fisheye
• Computer Interface: Built-in USB 2.0
• Image Download Time: Typically 0.6 seconds at full resolution using USB 2.0
• Power Requirements: Camera is USB powered, dew heater requires 12V at 1 amp max
• Input Connection:Mini B USB socket for USB2.0 and a 2.1 mm jack for +12V heater supply
• Cooling System: Ambient air cooling
• Overall Size: 150 mm tall x 95 mm diameter, including the polycarbonate weather dome