Reply To: Starting CMOS photometry

[Mr Ian David Sharp]

Hi Kevin,

Section 3.3.10 in the AAVSO CCD/CMOS Photometry guide is very informative with regards to the Gain and Offset settings in CMOS cameras:

https://www.aavso.org/sites/default/files/publications_files/ccd_photometry_guide/CCDPhotometryGuide.pdf

Once you choose a gain and offset, just stick with it for all lights and calibration files.

With regards to temperature, just go with a value that your camera can cool to reliably. I use both -10C and -20C with my CCD. I use -10 in the Summer months when I find the camera can’t cope with -20. I have a QHY268C CMOS camera which I image with and I find that it can’t get down reliably cooler than -15C, so I tend to stick with -10.

Binning – I use both 1×1 and 2×2 for fainter targets.

Cheers
Ian.