The ZWO ASI 432 MM monochrome camera is a great alternative to DSLR and MILC cameras, with a 17.6mm sensor with a resolution of 1608 x 1104, allowing you to capture a large enough area of sky with orders of magnitude less noise than a camera.
The new Sony IMX432 sensor features higher sensitivity (79% QE) and lower readout noise than previous models. The 1.78 megapixel sensor is passively cooled by a "heat pad", allowing it to operate at temperatures up to 15°C lower for long shutter speeds. As the camera does not have a built-in UV/IR filter, it remains particularly sensitive to infrared light, while no electricity is required for cooling. Because the camera does not have a built-in UV/IR filter, it remains particularly sensitive to infrared light.
With slower shutter speeds, older cameras often experienced "flare", which could only be compensated for by post-production. With the ZWO ASI 432 MM monochrome camera, longer shutter speeds (2000 seconds) can be recorded at low noise levels while eliminating the "amp glow" or "flare" effect when amplifying the signal. The 17.6 mm sensor with its 9 micron pixel size is not only an excellent tool for capturing the moon, sun and planets, but also for photographing depth objects. In fact, as a planetary camera and for some brighter deep-object observations, EAA astronomical observations at 120 fps are also possible with the camera, allowing small groups to view the image transmitted by the camera simultaneously.
The cameras are equipped with a USB 3.0 connector, which allows for much higher image transfer speeds, meaning more shots can be captured in a given amount of time for larger image sizes. This is most useful for shooting the Moon and Sun, but less so for capturing the planets.
There are a number of free image capture software downloads available on the internet, but for Windows we particularly recommend SharpCap and FireCapture. The cameras require Windows XP or later, but can also be used under Linux and even support Macintosh (we recommend USB 3 versions)
