Re: StellaCam II / NP-127

From: Chris L Peterson (clp_at_alumni.caltech.edu)
Date: 10/20/04 

Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 22:28:42 GMT

On 20 Oct 2004 22:04:10 GMT, mharveyww1@aol.com (MHarveyWW1) wrote:

>Aaah....but that's with CURRENT technology!
>Just a couple of years ago the conventional wisdom was that CCD images could
>never approach, let alone match, film.
>I wouldn't bet against someone making yet another breakthrough.

No, it isn't a technology issue at all. It is basic physics. The laws of the
Universe simply don't allow you to get a high S/N image without collecting a lot
of light. Technology isn't going to change those laws!

CCD cameras are already approaching perfect devices. It would only be an
incremental improvement to have a perfect camera: zero noise and 100% quantum
efficiency. If you had such a camera now, it would still require long exposures
for dim objects.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com