alt Hacker NewsBICEP3 actually uses a >20 year old CCD camera with analog video output (BICEP Array uses newer cameras, with more modern sensors). Daytime star pointings are possible by using a low-pass filter to block visible light and take advantage of the sensitivity of CCD / CMOS sensors to the near infrared, where the daytime sky is more transparent, combined with baffling.
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gunian • 01/20/2025
how hard would this be to set up for a total hardware noob? and how good or useful would the data be?
i know gaia data for instance is available for free but if one used just a homemade telescope could any useful celestial data be acquired?
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I would add it also uses an ancient analog TV for manual sighting in combination with the GUI for semi-auto centroiding. I always thought that was funny to see, but it seems to work well enough. Also, inserting that baffle is somewhat terrifying because it slots into a hole next to the main vacuum window and if you dropped it on the membrane, bad things would happen. Always fun to bump into Polies here :)