The ToupTek ATR3CMOS20000KPA (known by us as an ATR183C) incorporates the 20 megapixel Sony IMX183 CMOS sensor. This is a colour camera which is designed for planetary photography, as well as deep-sky astrophotography.

The sensor in the ATR183C is a 1″ size (13.1 x 8.8mm) sensor with very small 2.4µm pixels. If you have a telescope with a focal length of 1000mm, your field of view will be 44.9 x 30.1 arcminutes, at a resolution of 0.50 arcseconds per pixel.

The ATR183C has a two-stage fan-forced Peltier cooling system which is capable of cooling the sensor up to 45°C below the ambient air temperature. This decreases image noise, especially over long exposures, and will therefore greatly increase the signal to noise ratio. This lower noise gives you a better image overall, because you can retrieve dark details of nebulas and galaxies in the darker areas. The designers of the camera have ensured that that heat transfers quickly away from the sensor.

The camera communicates with the computer using a USB3.0 cable (included with the camera). It has a native driver, but an ASCOM driver is also included. This means that normal image acquisition software (like NINA, Voyager, Sequence Generator Pro, etc.) can be used with the camera. In addition to this, the camera comes with an advanced video and image processing application ToupSky.