All-sky camera

A new Starlight Xpress Oculus 150-degree all-sky camera has been set up at the Guernsey Observatory, as of April 2017. Live images (night-time only) and the last night’s video can be accessed here.

From 09 August 2011 to 30 April 2015 the Guernsey Observatory was the location of an all-sky camera, one of a network of such cameras placed by the University of Hertfordshire. It took pictures of the entire night sky every couple of minutes, uploading them to a website in real time, archiving them, and creating a nightly video, which was itself uploaded to the website. The archived images and videos can be accessed here.

The University’s camera was a Santa Barbara Instruments Group AllSky 340 monochrome camera, using a Kodak KAI-340 CCD, 640x480 pixels, each 7.4 microns square, and a high gain output stage. It had a Fujinon fisheye lens, focal length 1.4 mm, F/1.4, with an acrylic dome cover, and an internal heater to keep the lens free from condensation and the dome free from dew. Raindrops have to evaporate naturally. More details are available at the above website, and a brief description of the installation is contained in an article in a newsletter, accessible here.