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The Atik GP excels as both a planetary camera and as a guider
Its compact size and light weight make it a joy to use on telescopes large and small. The senor used is the fantastically sensitive 1.3 million pixel ICX445 EXview II CCD from Sony. The GP is capable of up to 30 frames per second and will download both 8bit data with the convenience of saving to standard avi file format, or 12bit for full dynamic range as Tif and Fits format. When used with the included GPAcquire software the camera is fully configurable with gain, region of interest, data format and a myriad of other settings enabling optimal planetary, solar and lunar imaging. Data can be save direct to disk or initially to memory to optimise frame rates with slightly slower hardware.
Slowing things down a little the advanced passive cooling allows images of 1mS to several seconds to be collected, ideal for guiding. The camera is fully compatible with existing Atik software so can be used with Atik´s Capture software as well as plug ins for Maxim DL, AstroArt, and more though the ASCOM camera interface. Controlled this way it behaves much the same as Atik's bigger cameras and will allow binning and sub framing.
Guiding corrections are passed to the mount using an ASCOM interface. This is presents many advantages over the older ST4 guide port method including ease of set up, logging, and precision of guide corrections. But it does require that the mount is ASCOM compatible (as most modern mounts are) and linked to the computer. Guiding older mounts may still be possible with an USB to ST4 converter box.
The GP does not have the active cooling of the Atik Titan so its potential for deep sky imaging is more limited, but it can be used to image the brighter deep sky objects.
What's in the box?
- Camera body with 1.25" adapter
- USB cable
- CD-ROM with drivers, software and user's manual (PDF)
- Quickstart guide (paper).
Atik's highly-acclaimed Capture software is included for camera control and data acquisition, and plug-ins are included to allow use with Astroart and Maxim DL.
Mono or Color?
Mono:
- Capable of advanced techniques (LRGB, narrowband)
- Additional applications (spectrometry, photometry)
Colour:
- Convenient for RGB imaging
- No need for expensive filters and filter wheels
Both types of camera are capable of creating stunning astroimages, we can only recommend you pick the one that suits you best!
