High near-infrared sensitivity
QHYCCD describes the SC2210 sensor as a ‘domestic CMOS’ unit. It isn't entirely obvious what they mean by this, but that doesn't detract from the excellent performance that the diminutive chip is capable of. The 4μm x 4μm pixels are arrayed in a 1,920 x 1,080 grid for this 2MP camera, and exposure times between 15 milliseconds and 15 minutesthanideal conditions using the IR850nm filter. It could be a useful camera for capturing images of close double stars and similar objects that need a bit of manipulation to get around any issues with seeing, and to that end we used the high sensitivity to the red end of the spectrum to get a close-up image of Orion's delightful Trapezium region, which is rich in bright hydrogen and sulphur emissions. This ‘domestic’ CMOS chip is capable of revealing the secrets of deep-sky objects too.
