More and more research telescopes run without anyone in the dome. University and institutional observatories move to dark, high and dry sites, then operate them robotically from thousands of miles away. Some of the best sites on Earth, in the high arctic and the Antarctic, are also the hardest to reach. Finger Lakes Instrumentation (FLI) cameras work in observatories around the world, from the high arctic to the Antarctic. Here's what we've learned about choosing a camera for sites where a service visit may be weeks or months away.
At a staffed observatory, a stuck filter wheel or an iced window costs one night. At a remote site it can cost a season. Every choice should therefore be judged against one question: what happens when this fails and nobody can get there? That favors simple, proven hardware, good telemetry, and software that recovers on its own.
Deep, stable cooling keeps dark current low and calibration consistent from night to night, which is the foundation of quantitative work. Deep cooling and large pixels with deep dynamic range are why FLI CCD cameras are used for long-exposure astronomy research. At a remote site, also check:
Polar and high-altitude sites bring the opposite problem: extreme cold, frost and condensation. Ask how the camera keeps its window clear of dew and frost, its rated operating temperature range, and whether cables and connectors stay flexible in the cold. A sealed, purged or backfilled sensor chamber protects the sensor from moisture over long deployments. FLI assembles sensor chambers in our ISO Class 7 clean room and purges and backfills them before sealing. Anti-dew technology is listed as an option on selected models; check each model page.
Moving parts fail most often: shutters, filter wheels, focusers, fans. Keep their number down, choose designs proven over many cycles, and know which parts a local technician can swap. CMOS cameras without mechanical shutters remove one moving part entirely, though you'll then need another way to take dark frames. On Kepler cameras, the shutter, fans and digital board are user-replaceable.
At a robotic observatory the filter wheel is part of the imaging system, not an add-on. Each extra interface between camera and wheel is one more thing that can loosen, drift or fail. Our ProLine cameras connect directly to FLI filter wheels, which cuts down on adapters and cables. FLI makes filter wheels for a range of filter sizes, including large formats. See our accessories page. Match filter size to your sensor and optics early, so the wheel doesn't vignette the field.
Robotic observatories run on scheduling and automation software, so the camera must be fully controllable from it. Check driver support for the platforms your observatory control software uses, and confirm how the camera recovers from power interruptions and USB or network drops. FLI software, drivers and manuals are on our support page, including ASCOM drivers for Kepler and our CCD cameras, and INDI drivers for FLI CCD cameras and filter wheels.
The right line depends on your science:
Our sensor size chart helps compare fields of view across models. A common rule of thumb for about one arcsecond per pixel is pixel size (µm) ≈ focal length (mm) ÷ 200.
On the first clear nights at a new site, before science operations begin:
A half-night spent on this saves weeks of remote troubleshooting later.
Before you ship a camera to a remote site:
FLI cameras are designed and manufactured in the USA, in Rochester, NY, and repaired by the same team that builds them. That means one point of contact when something needs attention, wherever the telescope is.
Tell us about your telescope, site conditions and science goals, and our sales team will help match a camera, filter wheel and software setup to them. Request a quote or email sales@flicamera.com. To see FLI cameras across astronomy and other fields, visit our applications page.
