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Handbook of CCD astronomy / Steve B. Howell.

By: Howell, Steve B [author].
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookSeries: Cambridge observing handbooks for research astronomers: 5Publisher: Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006Publisher: ©2006Edition: Second edition.Description: xiv, 208 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9780521617628 (paperback); 0521617626 (paperback).Subject(s): Astronomy -- Technique | Charge coupled devicesDDC classification: 522.2
Contents:
Introduction -- CCD manufacturing and operation -- Characterization of charge-coupled devices -- CCD imaging -- Photometry and astrometry -- Spectroscopy with CCDs -- CCDs use in space and at short wavelengths.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) are the state-of-the-art detector in many fields of observational science. Updated to include all of the latest developments in CCDs, this second edition of the Handbook of CCD Astronomy is a concise and accessible reference on all practical aspects of using CCDs. Starting with their electronic workings, it discusses their basic characteristics and then gives methods and examples of how to determine these values. While the book focuses on the use of CCDs in professional observational astronomy, advanced amateur astronomers, and researchers in physics, chemistry, medical imaging, and remote sensing will also find it very valuable. Tables of useful and hard-to-find data, key practical equations, and new exercises round off the book and ensure that it provides an ideal introduction to the practical use of CCDs for graduate students, and a handy reference for more experienced users.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 200-205) and index.

Introduction -- CCD manufacturing and operation -- Characterization of charge-coupled devices -- CCD imaging -- Photometry and astrometry -- Spectroscopy with CCDs -- CCDs use in space and at short wavelengths.

MTU Cork Module PHYS6051 - Core reading.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Preface to the first edition (p. x)
  • Preface to the second edition (p. xiii)
  • 1 Introduction (p. 1)
  • 1.1 Nomenclature (p. 2)
  • 1.2 Why use CCDs? (p. 4)
  • 1.3 Exercises (p. 6)
  • 2 CCD manufacturing and operation (p. 8)
  • 2.1 CCD operation (p. 9)
  • 2.2 CCD types (p. 14)
  • 2.3 CCD coatings (p. 28)
  • 2.4 Analog-to-digital converters (p. 30)
  • 2.5 Exercises (p. 33)
  • 3 Characterization of charge-coupled devices (p. 36)
  • 3.1 Quantum efficiency (p. 36)
  • 3.2 Charge diffusion (p. 42)
  • 3.3 Charge transfer efficiency (p. 44)
  • 3.4 Readout noise (p. 45)
  • 3.5 Dark current (p. 47)
  • 3.6 CCD pixel size, pixel binning, full well capacity, and windowing (p. 50)
  • 3.7 Overscan and bias (p. 52)
  • 3.8 CCD gain and dynamic range (p. 55)
  • 3.9 Summary (p. 62)
  • 3.10 Exercises (p. 64)
  • 4 CCD imaging (p. 66)
  • 4.1 Image or plate scale (p. 66)
  • 4.2 Flat fielding (p. 67)
  • 4.3 Calculation of read noise and gain (p. 71)
  • 4.4 Signal-to-noise ratio (p. 73)
  • 4.5 Basic CCD data reduction (p. 77)
  • 4.6 CCD imaging (p. 82)
  • 4.7 Exercises (p. 100)
  • 5 Photometry and astrometry (p. 102)
  • 5.1 Stellar photometry from digital images (p. 104)
  • 5.2 Two-dimensional profile fitting (p. 111)
  • 5.3 Difference image photometry (p. 114)
  • 5.4 Aperture photometry (p. 116)
  • 5.5 Absolute versus differential photometry (p. 121)
  • 5.6 High speed photometry (p. 123)
  • 5.7 PSF shaped photometry (p. 125)
  • 5.8 Astrometry (p. 128)
  • 5.9 Pixel sampling (p. 130)
  • 5.10 Exercises (p. 133)
  • 6 Spectroscopy with CCDs (p. 135)
  • 6.1 Review of spectrographs (p. 137)
  • 6.2 CCD spectrographs (p. 142)
  • 6.3 CCD spectroscopy (p. 146)
  • 6.4 Signal-to-noise calculations for spectroscopy (p. 150)
  • 6.5 Data reduction for CCD spectroscopy (p. 151)
  • 6.6 Extended object spectroscopy (p. 157)
  • 6.7 Slitless spectroscopy (p. 159)
  • 6.8 Exercises (p. 165)
  • 7 CCDs used in space and at short wavelengths (p. 167)
  • 7.1 CCDs in space (p. 169)
  • 7.2 Radiation damage in CCDs (p. 175)
  • 7.3 CCDs in the UV and EUV (300-3000 A) spectral range (p. 179)
  • 7.4 CCDs in the X-ray ( (p. 181)
  • 7.5 Exercises (p. 184)
  • Appendices
  • A CCD reading list (p. 186)
  • A.1 General CCD references (p. 187)
  • B CCD manufacturers: websites & information (p. 190)
  • C Some basics of image displays and color images (p. 191)
  • C.1 False color and pseudo-color images (p. 194)
  • C.2 Exercises (p. 197)
  • References (p. 198)
  • Index (p. 206)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

In the 25 years since their introduction, charge-coupled devices (CCDs) have revolutionized the way in which observational astronomy is conducted. Anyone making quantitative use of CCD images must have some familiarity with the instruments that incorporate this type of detector, and with the artifacts that can be present, at least in the uncalibrated data. This book describes the principles of CCDs and the calibrations needed to address their instrumental signatures. The formalism for the calculation of the signal-to-noise ratio, an area to which Howell (Planetary Science Institute, Arizona) has contributed, is developed. Three chapters are devoted to the application of CCDs to research in photometry, imaging, and spectroscopy. A final brief chapter discusses the special problems to be overcome when using CCDs to make observations from space. The focus is on optical astronomy, and there is no discussion of CCDs in the infrared. The book is well written, at a level suitable for amateur astronomers and undergraduate students. Graduate students interested in instrumentation would be better served by more advanced books, Ian S. McLean's Electronic Imaging in Astronomy (1997) or Christian Buil's CCD Astronomy: Construction and Use of An Astronomical CCD Camera (CH, Apr'92), which contain much practical information on the use of CCDs. Undergraduates. D. E. Hogg; National Radio Astronomy Observatory