Automated Star Searching Telescope. Technology Review. Colin Stark October 20, 2008 ECE 441

Transcription

1 Automated Star Searching Telescope Technology Review Colin Stark October 20, 2008 ECE 441

2 1. Revision History Date Revision Description Contributor 2008, October 18 0 Initial Creation: Sections 1 and 2 Colin Stark 2008, October 19 1 Added Sections Colin Stark

3 2. Introduction Our project is to create an automated telescope with the ability to track slow moving celestial objects through the night sky. This will be done with the use of a Micron based embedded camera for viewing and capturing images to send to a computer. Software will be developed to read these images and analyze them. The software will be able to select a recognizable object in the frame for tracking, and determine in which direction the object is moving with respect to the direction the camera is facing. This information will be output to a controller, which will determine how much to move each of the motors controlling the camera s mount, and the motors will move the camera accordingly. This project as a whole will result in a fully functional automated tracking telescope. This device will be useful to amateur and professional astronomers alike. It is a smaller low powered unit allowing it to be mobile if used with a laptop, and easily used though the developed software. Because the object recognition relies on the contrast of the object against the night sky, it may also have the ability to be used to track other devices that have a strong enough contrast to their background. There may also be opportunity to add or change lenses to increase the telescopes range and viewing capabilities Customer Requirements & Project Background For as long as there have been people on this planet, there have been people interested in space and celestial objects. As time progressed, new instruments for viewing space have come about,

4 and with those, new knowledge and understanding of what exists beyond our world. Even in modern times, despite having sent fellow humans to space, it is still a mysterious place that intrigues many people. Celestial objects can been seen easily on the internet now, and special events can be watched on T.V., but there are still many people out there who wish to see these things on their own. For those armature astronomers, it can be a very difficult task to get set up for looking into space accurately from their own home. There are many different options one can take to achieve this, and it can be a difficult decision to make. The idea of our project is to design and create an automated telescope that will be easy and fun to use for anyone. The purpose of our telescope is to take the difficulty of finding or following certain objects in space out of the hands of the user, and make it fully automated. This will allow anyone to see slow moving celestial objects that pass nearby without spending the entire time follow the object by hand. There are thousands of telescopes available today, ranging from cheap small telescopes for children to very expensive enormous telescopes that can take care of everything for you giving you amazing images of celestial objects invisible to the naked eye. We are looking to design an automated telescope that will give the ease that comes with the expensive telescopes, but is suitable for anyone to use. Within restrictions, our telescope will be able to track objects for you as they move through the night sky. It should be ideal for the amateur looking for something to use at home, as it will be relatively small and mobile, easy to use, and inexpensive.

5 Though it is a quite ideal product for many amateurs, our project is not restricted to personal use. This can be used by astronomers looking to automatically track objects that do not require a significantly more powerful telescope. The true value of our project is that it will track an object for hours with no user input needed, and will therefore be a great product for anyone looking for this kind of automation. This system is being designed to track celestial objects at night, but may also have potential to serve use to anyone looking to visually track a moving object. The recognition will be based on seeing the brightness of the object against the black night sky, and could be modified to track other objects with some clear distinction from their background Project Research Of the differences that exist between than many of the telescopes available, the one that I really did not understand was the mount styles, equatorial and altazimuth. Equatorial mounts have one axis of rotation which is parallel to Earth s axis of rotation, known as the right ascension. This is coupled with a perpendicular axis of motion known as the declination. The benefit of this is that the telescope can follow a smooth path of an object through the sky using only one axis. Altazimuth mounts have two perpendicular axes of rotation, one vertical, known as altitude, and one horizontal, known as azimuth. This type of mount is simpler to make than an equatorial mount, though because two axes need to change to track an object, versus only one on an equatorial mount, it seems to be less fit for celestial tracking.

6 Price Company Size Aperture Focal Ratio Focal Length Software Mount Resolution Zoom Konusmoto r-500 $ Konus 20 lbs. 4.5" f/ mm Planetariu m/star charting Equatorial 1.02 arc 200x SkyQuest XT10 $ Orion 55 lbs. 10" f/ mm None Altazimuth 0.46 arc 400x ACF-8AT LXD75 1, Meade 65 lbs. 8" f/ mm AutoStar Software Suite Equatorial 0.57 arc 400x ETX-90PE $ Meade 21 lbs. 3.5" f/ mm AutoStar Suite AE Altazimuth 1.3 arc 186x DS- 2080AT- LNT $ Meade 12.5 lbs. 3.1" f/10 800mm AutoStar Suite Altazimuth 1.45 arc 160x Northstar 127 $ Bushnell 22 lbs. 5" f/ mm None Altazimuth 0.91 arc 258x LS60T/Ca K $ Lunt Solar Systems No Info. 2.4" f/ mm None None 1.93 arc No Info. CGE 1400 (XLT) $6, Celestron 179 lbs. 14" f/ mm NexRemote Equatorial 0.33 arc 650x AstroMaste r 90AZ $ Celestron 20 lbs. 3.5" f/ mm TheSky Altazimuth 1.29 arc 167x Technology Review Analysis - Systems [1] *Information in this table is gathered from all of the sources cited in Appendix.

7 The Konusmotor-500 from Konus is the cheapest telescope I looked at. It is one of the lightest as well, but seems to be a little more powerful than some of the mid range telescopes. The large aperture size compared to the telescope cost is a strong point, as well as the mid range resolution. With a low zoom and an equatorial mount, this telescope would be great for the low budget consumer interested in tracking objects. [2] The SkyQuest XT10 from Orion is a larger more expensive telescope, but falls into the mid range area. Having the second largest aperture size and second best resolution will allow this telescope to produce some very nice images for a very reasonable price. The lack of software may be a down side for many armature astronomers, but there is a lot of great software out the to be purchased if one wants. [3] The ACF-8AT LXD75 from Meade is the most expensive Meade telescope I researched. It is significantly more expensive than the SkyQuest XT10, yet is very similar in specs. This is because Meade is known as one of the best manufacturers of telescopes. This is a very good telescope that should yield similar results to the XT10, so the cost may not be worth it, but its equatorial mount adds value over other models. [4] The ETX-90PE from Meade is a much more reasonably priced telescope, but again the price seems quite high for the specs. This model is significantly more expensive than the Konusmotor- 500, and yet seems to be a little worse. This would be a very good starting telescope if you have the money to invest and want a name brand; otherwise it is probably not worth your time. [5]

8 The DS-2080AT-LNT is the third Meade telescope I researched, and it follows the same overpriced trend as the other Meade telescopes. This telescope has the lowest specs in almost all the categories, and is still most expensive than three other models shown. [6] The Northstar 127 from Bushnell is one of the most well rounded telescopes. The price seems to match the specs very accordingly, and there is no real weak part of the telescope that brings its quality down. It is very mid range, and would be a good telescope to have, only really lacking software. Again, there is plenty of software available to any consumer, willing to spend additional money. [7] The LS60T/CaK from Lunt Solar Systems is a rather high priced low quality telescope. This price is not backed up by a company name such as Meade, and comes with no software, and no mount. This leave options open for people who may already have software and a mount, but is not reflected in the cost. This telescope would be difficult to use as is, and even after paying additional from software and a mount, has the smallest aperture size and the worst resolution. [8] The CGE 1400 (XLT) from Celestron is by far the most expensive telescope I researched, and by far the best. It is much larger than any of the other telescopes, and may be difficult for some people to move. The large aperture, high zoom, and excellent resolution will allow this telescope to produce the best images, and the equatorial mount will make tracking those images much easier. [9]

9 The AstroMaster 90AZ from Celestron is on the opposite end of the scale from the CGE 1400 (XLT). This telescope will produce lower quality imaging, but also has a lower price. Celestron is also a well known company for telescopes, but seems to have much more moderate pricing on this model than Meade had on a comparable model. [10] 2.3 Feature Set Absolute Minimum Requirements System must be able to track an object occupying 30% of the full image frame Objects with only 50% difference from their background must be traceable Objects moving as fast as 1% of frame per second must be traceable System should be able to track objects with in a full hemisphere Track celestial objects for 3-4 hour travel The system must be mobile The system must be able to interface to a PC Desired Feature Set System must be able to identify and locate 5 target constellations System must be able to track an object occupying only 5% of full frame Objects moving at 15% of full frame per second must be traceable Objects with only 10% difference from the background should be traceable Time to acquire constellation should be less than 30 System should be able to identify constellations by comparing to a database of constellations

10 Appendix A. References [1] Astronomics, "Telescopes and Telescope Accessories," Astronomics, [Online]. Available: name/astronomics/category_name/home/page/1. [Accessed: October 19, 2008]. [2] Konus, "Telescopes," Konus, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: October 19, 2008]. [3] Orion, "SkyQuest XT10 IntelliScope with Object Locator," Orion, [Online]. Available: pes/~product_id= [Accessed: October 19, 2008]. [4] Meade, "LXD75 Series," Meade, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: October 19, 2008]. [5] Meade, "ETX Premier Edition," Meade, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: October 19, 2008]. [6] Meade, "60mm Meade DS-2080AT-LNT," Meade, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: October 19, 2008]. [7] Bushnell, "N O RTHS TAR Telescopes," Bushnell, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: October 19, 2008]. [8] Lunt Solar Systems, "60mm Calcium Solar-Telescope with B600 blocking filter and 2'' Crayford Focuser," Lunt Solar Systems, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: October 19, 2008].

11 [9] Celestron, "Celestron CGE 1400 (XLT) Computerized Telescope," Celestron, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: October 19, 2008]. [10] Celestron, "AstroMaster 90AZ Telescope," Celestron, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: October 19, 2008].

12 Appendix B. Naming Conventions and Glossary Customer Requirement A requirement that may or may not be able to be tested as is. A requirement supplied by the customer, sponsor, or mentor. System The complete system that you are designing. This includes all blocks in your design. Equatorial Mount A mount with one rotational axis that parallels Earth s axis of rotation. Altazimuth Mount A mount with two perpendicular rotational axes, one horizontal, and one vertical. Aperture The diameter of the main optical element of the telescope. Focal Ratio A telescope s focal length divided by its aperture size. Focal Length The distance from the prime focus of a telescope to the main mirror.