JPH05260362A - Electronic camera device for astronomic observation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the electronic camera device for astronomic observation which is able to record a change in an astronomic phenomenon and eliminates the effect of noise and an external disturbance light through resetting. CONSTITUTION:When a system controller 5 sends a control signal to an imager 1 to control the exposure operation, the imager 1 starts storage of charge in response to the incident luminous quantity and outputs an electric signal for each picture element cell in response to the incident luminous quantity. The output signal is converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter section 3 and picture data by pattern are stored tentatively in an initial memory 6. Then a decision circuit 8 decides whether or not there is any astronomic phenomenon change to be observed depending on a change in the storage charge of two adjacent picture element cells or over in the imager 1. When the circuit 8 decides any change, an external memory 7 stores the image pickup time and the information of the prescribed picture element cells.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera device for digitizing an image signal and recording it on a recording medium, and more particularly to an astronomical electronic camera device for observing and photographing meteors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in observing and photographing meteors, a method of photographing meteors by opening a shutter of a camera device using a silver lead film has been used as a general method.

[0003]

However, in the above method, when the trajectories of a plurality of meteors are shown on one film, the temporal order of the appearance of each meteor and the absolute time when each meteor appears. I don't know clearly.

Further, when the brightness around the observing place becomes brighter by, for example, a bicycle or an airplane, the film is exposed to the light, and the trajectory of a meteor whose absolute brightness is dark falls within that brightness. It will be buried. Then, it is impossible to confirm whether or not the meteor is actually photographed without developing the film after photographing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to make it possible to record changes in astronomical phenomena, such as meteor occurrence time, occurrence location, and luminous intensity change, and further perform a reset operation for photographing. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera device for astronomical observation, which can eliminate the influence of noise and disturbance light at the time.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic camera device for astronomical observation according to the present invention comprises an optical system adapted to an astronomical object to be observed, and an electric system according to the amount of incident light from the optical system. An imager for arranging non-destructive light-receiving elements as a signal in a matrix and outputting a signal for each pixel cell, and a control means for sending a control signal for controlling an exposure operation to the imager and outputting synchronization time information And an exposure means for opening the optical system and starting accumulation of electric charges according to the amount of light incident on the imager, based on a control signal from the control means, and a digital electric charge for the electric charges accumulated in the imager by the exposure means. An analog / digital conversion means for converting into a signal, and the image data for one screen converted into a digital signal by the above analog / digital conversion means temporarily. After the temporary storage means for storing and the exposure operation for the imager by the exposure means are started, the accumulated charge amount of at least two or more adjacent pixel cells of each pixel cell of the imager stored in the temporary storage means. Detecting means for detecting a change in the predetermined time interval, a determining means for determining whether or not there is a change in the astronomical phenomenon for observation according to a predetermined reference, the change in the accumulated charge amount detected by the detecting means; When the means determines that there is a change in the observed astronomical phenomenon, the storage means stores the synchronization time information and information of a predetermined pixel cell.

[0007]

That is, in the astronomical observation electronic camera device of the present invention, the control means sends a control signal for controlling the exposure operation to the imager and outputs synchronization time information, and the optical system is opened based on the control signal. The exposure unit starts the accumulation of electric charges according to the amount of light incident on the imager. Then, the imager in which the non-destructive read-out light receiving elements are arranged in a matrix outputs a signal for each pixel cell as an electric signal corresponding to the amount of incident light from the optics adapted to the observed celestial body. Then, the output signal is converted into a digital signal by the analog / digital conversion means, and the image data for one screen converted into the digital signal is temporarily stored in the temporary storage means. Then, at least 2 of each pixel cell of the imager is detected by the detecting means.
A change in the accumulated charge amount of one or more adjacent pixel cells is detected at every predetermined time, and the determination means determines whether or not there is a change in the observed astronomical phenomenon according to the predetermined change in the detected accumulated charge amount. To do. Then, when the determination means determines that there is a change in the observed astronomical phenomenon, the storage means stores the synchronization time information and the information of the predetermined pixel cell.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration of an electronic camera device for astronomical observation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the imager 1 is
A pixel cell unit 101 including a non-destructive read-out pixel cell having a photoelectric conversion function, an X address generation circuit 102 for calculating an address in the X direction, and a Y address generation circuit 103 for calculating an address in the Y direction. There is.
The driver / selector circuit 2 drives the imager 1 and selects pixel cells.

The signal of each pixel cell output from the output terminal 104 of the imager 1 is A / D converted by the A / D (analog / digital) conversion circuit 3, and the switch 4 controlled by the system controller 5 is operated. It is input to the initial memory 6 via the. This initial memory 6
Is a random access memory (hereinafter abbreviated as RAM) capable of recording data for one image picked up by the image memory 1, and the data in the initial memory 6 can be recorded in the external memory 7.

The determination circuit 8 uses the A / D-converted pixel cell value Vc (X _k , Y _l ) ((X _k , Y) of the pixel cell of the imager 1.
_l ) is the coordinate value of the pixel cell) and the value V _i (X _k , Y _l ) recorded in the initial memory 6 is corrected by the time axis correction circuit 5 as will be described later. If the value of the subsequent pixel cell is V ′ _i (X _k , Y _l ), and the determination level value is S, then | Vc (X _k , Y _l ) −V ′ _i (X _k , Y _l ) | <S ... If it is (1), it is judged as "0", and otherwise it is judged as "1". The determination result by the determination circuit 8 is sent to the system controller 5 via 801. The output on the 401 side of the switch 4 is connected to the external memory 7, and the value of each pixel cell of the imager 1 can be recorded in the external memory 7. Then, the system controller 5 controls each circuit connected by a broken line in the figure, performs cell selection of the imager 1 and the initial memory 6 and time management.

In the electronic camera device for astronomical observation having such a structure, when a release button (not shown) is pressed, a timing signal of an exposure start command is issued from the system controller 15 and the driver / selector circuit 12 causes the imager 1 to operate.
A reset signal is sent to. This reset signal causes unnecessary charges in the pixel cell portion 101 to be discharged and reset, and then the initial memory 6 is also reset. Then, a shutter (not shown) is opened, and charges are accumulated according to the exposure amount of the light incident through the optical system 10.

Next, a preset time T
_{When i} (seconds) has elapsed, the values of all the pixel cells of the imager 1 are read out sequentially and recorded in the initial memory 6 under the control of the system controller 5.
If necessary, the data in the initial memory 6 is also recorded in the external memory 7.

Here, since the electronic camera device for astronomical observation of this embodiment is mounted on an equatorial mount and automatically tracked, for example, when observing meteors, the position of the light of the stars on the imager 1 is that of the earth. It is not affected by rotation and is always the same. Therefore, the data recorded in the initial memory 6 is information on the position of the star and its brightness.

Next, with the movement of the system controller 5,
After the switch 4 is connected to the 401 side thereof, the value of each pixel cell of the imager 1 is read from the output terminal 104 at every preset time T _m (second), A / D converted, and then Vc It is input to the determination circuit 8 for (X _k , Y _l ). On the other hand, from the initial memory 6, the system controller 5 reads the value of the memory cell at the corresponding coordinate.

Assuming that the time from when the imager 1 is reset to when the value of the pixel cell of the imager 1 is read is T _k (X _k , Y _l ), the time axis correction circuit 9 outputs Vc ( X _k , Y _l ) · T _k (X _k , Y _l ) / T _i
And the result V ′ _c (X _k , Y _l ) is the decision circuit 8
Entered in.

As described above, the decision circuit 8 performs the operation of the above equation (1). When it is smaller than the decision level value S, "0" is given as the decision result, otherwise it is "1".
Is output to 801. Then, the output value 80 of the determination circuit 8
When 1 is “0”, it is determined that there is no change in brightness, and when 1 is “1”, there is a change in brightness. Here, when a meteor occurs, the output value 801 naturally becomes "1", and this value is highly likely to cause a meteor.

If the output value 801 of the decision circuit 8 for the pixel cell (X _k , Y _l ) is "1", (X _k , Y
_l ) adjacent pixel cells (X _{k + 1} , Y _{l + 1} ) to (X
_K-1 , _Yl-1 ), the value of each pixel cell of the imager 1 corresponding to a total of 8 pixels is read out, and similarly judged by the judgment circuit 8, and an output value 801 corresponding to one or more pixel cells is obtained. When it is "1", the same operation is continuously performed.

When this number of operations reaches a preset number, it is considered that a meteor has occurred, and the system controller 5 causes the values of all pixel cells of the imager 1 after A / D conversion and the meteor occurrence time to be determined. It records in the external memory 7. After that, by repeating the same operation, it becomes possible to record the time of occurrence of the meteor, the position of the meteor with respect to the star and its change in brightness. The imager suitable for the present invention is a CM capable of nondestructive read
D, SIT, etc. are mentioned.

In the above embodiment, various noises such as dark current shot noise can be cut off by resetting the imager 1 every time a meteor is generated or at regular intervals.

When the charges of all the pixel cells of the imager 1 suddenly rise, it is determined that the influence of ambient light is present and the reset operation is performed, so that the normal operation can be performed thereafter. ..

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these and can be improved and changed. For example, the data recorded in the initial memory may be read again at a certain time interval, or the determination level S value may be changed at a certain constant time interval.

[0023]

According to the present invention, an electronic camera for astronomical observation capable of recording the time of occurrence of a meteor, the place of occurrence, and the change in luminous intensity, and further capable of cutting the influence of noise and ambient light at the time of shooting by the reset operation. A device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera device for astronomical observation according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Imager, 2 ... Driver / selector circuit, 3 ... A
/ D converter, 4 ... Switch, 5 ... System controller, 6 ... Initial memory, 7 ... External memory, 8 ... Judgment circuit, 9 ... Time axis correction circuit, 10 ... Optical system.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical system adapted to an astronomical object to be observed, and a light receiving element capable of nondestructive readout as an electric signal corresponding to the amount of incident light from the optical system are arranged in a matrix.
An imager that outputs a signal for each pixel cell, a control unit that sends a control signal for controlling the exposure operation to the imager and outputs synchronization time information, and the optical system is opened based on the control signal from the control unit. At the same time, an exposing means for starting the accumulation of electric charges according to the amount of light incident on the imager, an analog / digital converting means for converting the electric charges accumulated in the imager by the exposing means into a digital signal, and the analog / digital converting means. A temporary storage means for temporarily storing the image data for one screen converted into a digital signal by means of: and the imager stored by the temporary storage means after starting the exposure operation to the imager by the exposure means. Of each pixel cell for detecting a change in the accumulated charge amount of at least two or more adjacent pixel cells every predetermined time. Means for determining whether or not there is a change in the observed astronomical phenomenon according to a predetermined standard based on a change in the accumulated charge amount detected by the detection means, and there is a change in the observed astronomical phenomenon by the determination means. An electronic camera device for astronomical observation, comprising: a storage unit that stores synchronization time information and information of a predetermined pixel cell when it is determined that