CCD cameras and software used to capture world largest ground-based lunar image

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA--(Marketwire - Sept. 28, 2009) - Lumenera Corporation, www.lumenera.com, a leading manufacturer and developer of high performance digital cameras and custom imaging solutions for scientific, industrial, and surveillance markets, is pleased to announce that a Guinness World Record was set for The Largest Ground-based Digital Lunar Mosaic using the SKYnyx2-0 and INFINITY2-1 camera series.

The Lunar World Record Team, featuring some of the world's foremost amateur astronomy imagers from the UK, gathered on April 2009 to create a high resolution image of the moon larger then any other taken by ground-based astronomers. Lumenera's professional astronomy cameras were combined with high-end amateur telescopes and special software to capture close to 1.2 million video frames of the 9-day old Moon over a single night. 288 individual images were then meticulously pieced together and colour balanced to create a seamless single mosaic. The record breaking mosaic is 87.4 megapixel in resolution with a Moon diameter of approximately 9550 pixels, allowing for features as small 0.6 miles to be seen.

To achieve the high focal length needed for the Guinness World Record the Lunar World Record Team chose Lumenera's SKYnyx2-0 and INFINITY2-1 CCD USB 2.0 cameras. The cameras, running at 30fps, were used with a red filter which included IR block coating to prevent blooming and glare in the night time images. The team also used Lumenera's LuCam Software to gather the captured data from the cameras.

Sales of the Guinness World Record setting image will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. In support of this remarkable astronomy achievement, fund raising competitions were held by Lumenera's employees and contributions raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust were matched by the Corporation.

"I am very proud our cameras were selected for this ambitious and innovative undertaking." stated Huw Leahy, President, Lumenera Corporation. "Congratulations to the UK-based Lunar World Record Team for this notable achievement and their support of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust."

For more information or to purchase a poster of the image visit www.lunarworldrecord.com, or contact Lumenera at [email protected].

About Lumenera
Lumenera Corporation, a division of Roper Industries, and headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, is a leading developer and manufacturer of high performance digital cameras and custom imaging solutions. Lumenera cameras are used worldwide in a diverse range of industrial, scientific and security applications.

Lumenera solutions provide unique combinations of speed, resolution and sensitivity in order to satisfy the most demanding digital imaging requirements. Lumenera customers achieve the benefit of superior price to performance ratios and faster time to market with the company's commitment to high quality, cost effective product solutions. For further information about Lumenera, please visit www.lumenera.com or call 613-736-4077. To receive Lumenera press releases as they are issued, contact us at [email protected].