[ATMoB-discuss] satellite tracking with Celestron or Meade scope and mount

[pbealo at comcast.net]

Michael,


I think that all hinges upon what he means by "track". If he means to within 1 pixel on a CCD - probably not. If he means keeping a rapidly moving object within a "reasonable" field of view - probably.

There is off-the-shelf code called, strangely enough, "SatelliteTracker". To quote their feature page: "Satellite Tracker is a 32-bit Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP program which calculates satellite positions using NORAD SGP4/SDP4 orbital models. An interface to the Meade LX200, LX200GPS, AutoStar, LX200 Compatible, Celestron Ultima, Celestron CGE, NexStarGPS and NexStarGT telescopes allows automatic tracking and viewing. Satellite Tracker is a fast and compact single executable, no other runtime libraries or supporting DLLs are required!"  

Their website is:  http://www.heavenscape.com/

If I were the LL guy - I would use all reflective optics, like a newtonian,  for the broadest spectral range without refocusing or worrying about IR or UV performance. If its a good parabola in the UV, its a great parabola in the IR!!

have fun,

Peter




 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Michael Aramini <M.Aramini at Verizon.net>
> A colleague from Lincoln Lab would like to be able to do computer
> control of a Celestron or Meade mount with a scope on it to do real
> time tracking of satellites in low Earth orbit.
> 
> He has a software model of that can predict the satellite's apparent
> motion, but wanted to know if it is feasible to low level commands to
> the mount to tell it where to point when, but wanted to know if such
> mounts could respond to such commands quickly and precisely enough to
> track satellites in real time.
> 
> A secondary question is whether a Celestron or Meade scope which was
> designed primarily for visible light use can reasonably be used for
> near IR.
> 
> -Michael
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: 	Telescope State of the Art
> Date: 	Mon, 2 Apr 2007 10:04:05 -0400
> From: 	Flanagan, Robert <flanagan at ll.mit.edu>
> To: 	Aramini, Michael <aramini at ll.mit.edu>
> 
> Mike,
> 
> I’ve been asked to develop a satellite tracking system that tracks
> during the day. I’m planning on connecting an InGaAs near IR detector to
> a Celestron or Meade telescope.
> 
> The big problem is the tracking end of things. I need to be able to
> control the telescope with a computer so I need to receive mount encoder
> information and send instructions to the mount to move.
> 
> Based on your experience in ATM, do you know if the mounts on the
> high-end commercial telescopes can be programmed this way?
> 
> Thanks for your advice on this.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> Dr. Robert W. Flanagan, Jr.
> Group 91
> MIT Lincoln Laboratory
> 244 Wood Street
> Lexington, MA 02420-9108
> (781) 981-0453
> 
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