A CCD TV CAMERA FOR TELESCOPE GUIDING

Using a virtual-phase thermoelectrically cooled CCD, an inexpensive and sensitive slow-scan camera has been built for field acquisition and guiding with the 1-m and 3-m Lick Observatory telescopes. Its large dynamic range, geometrical stability, low-voltage operation, and fast recovery from overexposure make it preferable to the intensified SEC cameras used previously for telescope guiding. On nights of good seeing the CCD cameras have reached 19th-20th magnitude stars at the 1-m telescope and as deep as 22nd magnitude at the 3-m telescope with a 15-30 sec integration time.