Endless Facts, One Snippet at a Time
CCD Sensors: Capturing Starlight Digitally
- CCD stands for charge-coupled device, a sensor that converts light into electronic signals.
- Invented in 1969, CCDs revolutionized astronomy by replacing photographic plates.
- They are far more sensitive, detecting faint light from distant stars and galaxies.
- CCDs capture images pixel by pixel, with each pixel storing incoming photons as electric charge.
- They have linear response, meaning brightness in the image matches actual light intensity.
- Most modern telescopes, from ground-based observatories to Hubble, rely on CCDs.
- CCDs made possible precise measurements in photometry, spectroscopy, and astrometry.
- Their efficiency allows astronomers to observe objects billions of light-years away.
- CCD technology also benefits everyday devices like digital cameras and smartphones.
- By capturing starlight digitally, CCDs opened a new era of precision astronomy.