Improving the WIYN Telescope's Pointing and Tracking Performance with a Star Tracker Camera

摘要

We report on the implementation of a star tracker camera to improve the telescope pointing and tracking, at the WIYN 3.5 m telescope on Kitt Peak, Arizona. We base the overall concept on a star tracker system developed at the University of Wisconsin and routinely in use now for rocket and high-altitude balloon navigation. This fairly simple system provides pointing and station-keeping information, accurate to a few arcseconds, typically within a second.