Abstract

A computer-controlled star tracker has been built for use in the IR. A small dedicated computer is the active element in a servo loop that moves two small mirrors located in the light path and keeps the light beam centered in the input aperture of an IR heterodyne spectrometer. It does this without reducing the amount of light available to the spectrometer. The system has been used at the coude focus of the IRTF at Mauna Kea and can track a −1^m (5-μm) star at frequencies up to 10 Hz while holding the output beam to within a few tenths of a second of arc on the sky.

© 1986 Optical Society of America

Vidicon Star Tracker

Walter H. Schuck
Appl. Opt. 5(4) 489-496 (1966)

Adaptive section non-uniformity correction method of short-wave infrared star images for a star tracker

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Effective star tracking method based on optical flow analysis for star trackers

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Star spot location estimation using Kalman filter for star tracker

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Multiexposure imaging and parameter optimization for intensified star trackers

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