Player One astronomy cameras: which sensor sits behind each family name

Player One’s model names follow mythology and the solar system rather than sensor size, so it helps to translate them before comparing fields. In our data the three cooled deep-sky families carry Greek names (Poseidon, Ares, Zeus) and most uncooled bodies carry planet names (Uranus, Saturn, Neptune, Mars), with Ceres for the guide camera and Apollo for solar work. The Uranus-C Pro breaks the pattern: a planet name on a cooled camera.

Family names mapped to sensors

Family	Sensor	Format	Cooled models	Uncooled models
Poseidon	IMX571	APS-C	Poseidon-C/M Pro	none
Zeus	IMX455	Full frame	Zeus 455C/M Pro	none
Ares and Saturn SQR	IMX533	1-inch square	Ares-C/M Pro	Saturn-C/M SQR
Uranus	IMX585	1/1.2-inch	Uranus-C Pro	Uranus-C
Neptune	IMX464 (C II), IMX178 (M)	1/1.8-inch	none	Neptune-C II, Neptune-M
Mars	IMX662 (C II), IMX462 (M II)	1/2.8-inch	none	Mars-C II, Mars-M II
Ceres	IMX462	1/2.8-inch	none	Ceres 462M
Apollo	IMX432 (MAX), IMX429 (MINI)	1.1-inch, 2/3-inch	none	Apollo-M MAX, Apollo-M MINI

Two traps sit in the table. The Mars-C II and Mars-M II are not a color and mono version of one sensor: the color body uses the IMX662 and the mono body the IMX462, so their published resolutions differ slightly (1936 × 1100 and 1944 × 1096). The Neptune pair also mixes sensors, and with them pixel sizes: 2.9 µm on the Neptune-C II and 2.4 µm on the Neptune-M.

Cooled and uncooled twins

Where Player One builds the same sensor both ways, the field of view is identical and the differences are thermal and mechanical. The Ares Pro and Saturn SQR share the IMX533 with the same published 73 ke⁻ full well and 4.46–1 e⁻ read noise. The Ares adds a two-stage TEC rated at 35–40 °C below ambient and a 17.5 mm back focus. The Saturn-C SQR page lists it under Planetary Camera, describes it as designed for lunar and solar mosaics and deep-sky lucky imaging, and offers an optional ACS fan; Player One says the passive and active cooling together keep the body only 7 °C above ambient. Its back focus is 12.5 mm.

The Uranus-C and Uranus-C Pro pair works the same way on the IMX585. Both publish 3856 × 2180 pixels at 2.9 µm, so at 1000 mm each covers 38.4′ × 21.7′ at 0.60″/px. One spec differs between sources: the product pages give read noise as 7.2–0.7 e⁻, while the Uranus-C manual gives 6.5–0.7 e⁻. Player One writes read noise from the high value to the low one, which is why the spec table reads “3.9-1.0e” and similar.

Back focus by body type

The cooled Pro bodies list 17.5 mm, and the Poseidon-C Pro page adds that it becomes 12.5 mm without the sensor tilt plate. The uncooled planetary and solar bodies list 12.5 mm. The Ceres 462M guide camera is the shortest at 7.5 mm, 5 mm less than the Mars-M II, which uses the same IMX462.

Apollo: the solar models

Player One files the Apollo-M MAX and Apollo-M MINI under Solar Camera, and the Apollo-M MAX page describes the series as mono, global-shutter cameras focused on solar imaging. Their pixels are large: 9 µm on the MAX and 4.5 µm on the MINI, giving 1.86″/px and 0.93″/px at 1000 mm. NASA’s Sun fact sheet gives the Sun’s apparent diameter as at most 1952″. Computed edge to edge, the full disc at that size fits the short side of the MAX up to 1050 mm and of the MINI up to 700 mm. The square Saturn SQR fits it up to 1195 mm in any orientation, which is one reason a square frame suits disc-shaped targets. Leave margin in practice; the target framing calculator does this with a set fill percentage. Solar imaging also requires a proper solar filter or a dedicated solar telescope; the camera does not make the Sun safe to point at.

The deep-sky families have their own comparisons: IMX571 for Poseidon, IMX533 for Ares and Saturn, and IMX585 for Uranus.