I recently bought an Atik Infinity for video astronomy, boasting
both the speed and sensitivity required for this new technique. Atik infinity is a fine camera with a 2/3 ” chip and the infinity
Observatory-lightpollution
software is a real paradigm shift. First light last night with an 80/600 TMB Apo: M42 in a white zone, picture getting better and better while sipping tea – wow. My secondary scope – a HEQ5 – is always ready in my office, but in addition to a suburban light pollution and a a street lamp right in front of the window. If you look closely at the maximum stretched picture, you see stray light at the left side.
A combination of conventual observing and astrophotography. No darks, no guiding I am impressed. What would be nice, having an “About (with version)” and displaying the filename of currently stacked picture… or I haven’t found those features yet.Through a new, intuitive, special software, the Infinity brings deep sky to a screen in just seconds for the astronomer – you see what you could not observe even under difficult light conditions.
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- Low Stretching – First Light M42 Atik Infinity – TMB 80 600 mm 300 pictures a 10 sec
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- Medium Stretching – First Light M42 Atik Infinity – TMB 80 600 mm 300 pictures a 10 sec
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- MeanSD Stretching – First Light M42 Atik Infinity – TMB 80 600 mm 300 pictures a 10 sec
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- Manual Stretching – First Light M42 Atik Infinity – TMB 80 600 mm 300 pictures a 10 sec
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- MaxPeak Stretching – First Light M42 Atik Infinity – TMB 80 600 mm 300 pictures a 10 sec
The Infinity features a Sony ICX825 sensor embedded with EXview HAD CCD II™ technology for outstanding sensitivity and Quantum Efficiency at a resolution suited to near real time viewing. The 6,45 µm pixel size is well-suited to a broad range of telescopes.
Infinity 1.2
I tested with Infinity 1.2 BETA link Version installed alongside the original Infinity from the core software installer. The New features include:
- Colour Balance Adjustments – allows you to adjust the colour levels both manually and automatically
- Copy Images – you can now copy and image to the clipboard with either a ‘right click -> copy’ or by pressing CTRL+C.
- Dawn and PixInsight Compatibility – FITS files generated by Infinity will now work with both Dawn and PixInsight, as well as MaxIm DL and AstroArt. The Pixinsight FITS fix was just what I was looking for, Pixinsight being my tool of choice.
It still does not replace the experience looking through Ben’s Dobson at the ITT star party, but it is close.