What is a CCD Camera and what does it do?
Unlike traditional cameras, the CCD camera uses a small, rectangular piece of silicon called a Charge-Coupled Device to gather and imprint incoming light instead of film. The silicon chip is a solid-state electronic component comprised of light-sensitive cells called photosites. Each photosite is its own pixel – just one tiny cell in the whole body of a photograph that could contain hundreds of thousands of pixels! When incoming light strikes the photosite, the photoelectric effect occurs and creates electrons for as long as exposure occurs. The electrons are then kept “stored” in their individual cells until a computer unloads the array, counts the electrons and reassembles them into the “big picture”. Although there’s just a bit more to it than that, CCD imaging is one of the fastest growing fields of astrophotography. Unlike traditional film cameras which only captures about 2% of gathered light, CCD cameras can respond up to 70%.
