Optical Powers Microns and More

Reference Page
Microns and More

Measures and Conversions

Inches, centimeters, millimeters, and microns are all used to describe telescope apertures,  focal lengths, CCD pixel and chip sizes.  Because it is necessary to calculate pixel scale and field of view using the same units for focal length of the telescope and size of the imaging pixels or pixel array, it is helpful to have a reference for conversions.

Microns Usually the pixel size for CCD cameras are given in microns.   A micron is a micro-meter, or a millionth of a meter.  So to change microns to meters, divide by 1,000,000.  To change microns to centimeters, divide by 10,000.  To change microns to millimeters, divide by 1,000.  micron One millionth of a meter 1 micron = 0.000001 m        1 micron = 0.0001 cm        1 micron = 0.001 mm   Scientific Notation:  1 micron = 1.0 x 10-6 m        1 micron = 1.0 x 10-4 cm    1 micron = 1.0 x 10-3 mm

Microns and CCD Camera Pixel Sizes   Apogee AP7p Pixel Size: 24 microns = 0.000024 m = 0.0024 cm = 0.024 mm SBIG ST7 and ST8e: Pixel Size: 9 microns = 0.000009 m = 0.0009 cm = 0.009 mm 2x2 binning yields pixel size of 18 microns = 0.000018 m = 0.0018 cm = 0.018 mm 3x3 binning yields pixel size of 27 microns = 0.000027 m = 0.0027 cm = 0.027 mm SBIG ST9e Pixel Size: 20 microns = 0.000020 m = 0.0020 cm = 0.020 mm

CCD pixel values microns to inches 9 microns = 0.000354331 inches 18 microns = 0.000708661 inches 20 microns = 0.000787402 inches 24 microns = 0.000944882 inches 27 microns = 0.00106299 inches

Conversions 1 inch = 2.54 cm = 25.4 mm 1 inch = 25400 microns 1 meter = 39.3701 inches 1 cm =  0.393701 inches 1 micron = 0.0000393701 inches,  or, 1 micron =  3.93701-5 inches