GRD seminar Loïc Barbot [LAM]

Loïc Barbot PhD student will present his work on astronomical navigation. Here is the abstract of the presentation :

Astronomical navigation is still studied in merchant or naval academies as a method to fix the position of a ship. Considered as an emergency technic, it is implemented by an observer measuring with the sextant the angle between the horizon line and a celestial body. After calculations and plots, the position is obtained with an accuracy of several nautical miles (1 NM = 1,852 km).
Star tracking is used on satellites to measure their orientation in space in order to turn their solar panels towards the sun or their cameras and antennas towards the earth. This requires to identify several stars in the same field of view or in the fields of several star-trackers.
To be reliable, a stellar positioning system must have an accuracy comparable to satellite positioning, should operate day and night, even at low altitude where the atmosphere is dense in aerosols. If the position of the stars and the algorithms are well mastered, the detection of stars by daylight remains a challenge.
The MARIS STELLA project explores the potential of infrared cameras. The stars thus detectable are numerous but this technology has not yet reached its full maturity: the performances are improving over time. After a presentation of the current results, future tests will be described.