Back to Astrophotos Back to Thumbnails

CCD

CCD stands for Charge-Coupled Device. It is a type of camera used often in astronomy, because of its high sensitivity. CCDs can record up to 75% of the light that reaches them. A CCD consists of a silicon chip with several pixels. The pixels develop an electrical charge proportional to the amount of light falling on them, and this is translated by a computer into an image.