09/25/2005
CCDWare is evaluating some new software that provides a quantifiable method to measure the focal plane of a telescope using a CCD camera. I used some data taken with a moderately sized IMG6303E camera to generate the following before and after data
Figure 1, Without FFC
Figure 1 shows the fitted FWHM profile of a star field across the CCD. The FWHM ranges from 2.4 arc-sec. at the center to 3.2 arc-sec. at the extreme edges.
Figure 2, With FFC
Figure 2 shows the field with the FFC in place. During this night of better seeing, the FWHM ranges from 1.9 arc-sec. at the center to 2.07 arc-sec. at the extreme edges.
The improvement is dramatic!