Short for "charge-coupled device," an Imaging chip is a light-sensitive electronic detector used in making astronomical images. Sensitive over a wide range of wavelengths, and much more efficient than film in gathering light, Imaging Chips are often used to image extremely faint objects.

A thermoelectric cooler draws heat away from the chip, which lowers the overall electronic "noise" in the resulting image. For every 6 degrees drop in temperature, the dark noise in the image is reduced by half.

CCD cameras are very sensitive to a wide range of wavelengths, including farther out into the infra-red spectrum than we can see by eye. Normally this is never a problem when looking through the telescope, but a sensitive CCD camera will see this slightly out of focus region of the spectrum, resulting in fatter stars than normal. An IR filter will cut out this region of the spectrum leaving tightly focused stars and a better overall image.