Method of determining orientation of a telescope

Abstract

An automatic telescope ( 10 ) capable of determining an orientation without requiring input from a user or any external source. The telescope ( 10 ) preferably includes a database ( 22 ) to store astronomical information, a processor ( 24 ) to control a drive mechanism ( 18 ), a vision device ( 30 ) to sense bright stars, and a motion sensor ( 32 ) to generate a motion signal. When the vision device ( 30 ) is slewed from alignment with a first bright star to a second bright star, the motion signal is preferably representative of a measured angle between the first and second bright stars. This process is preferably repeated for several bright stars to generate several measured angles. The processor ( 24 ) can then use the measured angles to identify the bright stars and determine the orientation of the telescope ( 10 ).

1 . An automatic telescope operable to determine an orientation, the telescope comprising:
 a motion sensor operable to detect a measured angle between positions of the telescope as the telescope is manually slewed from alignment with a first celestial object to alignment with a second celestial object; and   a processor operable to determine the orientation using a signal from the motion sensor representing the measured angle, wherein the measured angle is compared to a known angle associated with celestial objects to determine an identity of one or more of the celestial objects.   
   
   
       2 . The telescope as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising a base operable to moveably support the telescope. 
   
   
       3 . The telescope as set forth in  claim 2 , further comprising a drive mechanism operable to move the telescope with respect to the base. 
   
   
       4 . The telescope as set forth in  claim 3 , further comprising a switch for selectively allowing the telescope to be slewed manually or via the drive mechanism. 
   
   
       5 . The telescope as set forth in  claim 3 , wherein the processor is further operable to control the drive mechanism in order to align the telescope with a specified celestial object using a vision signal from a vision device operable to sense celestial objects. 
   
   
       6 . The telescope as set forth in  claim 1 , further including a database operable to contain information relating to a plurality of known celestial objects. 
   
   
       7 . The telescope as set forth in  claim 6 , wherein the processor is further operable to determine the orientation of the telescope by comparing measured angles between the celestial objects with the information stored in the database. 
   
   
       8 . The telescope as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the motion sensor is operable to sense motion along a first and second axis of motion.