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The Edinburgh Automatic Star Follower

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

G. R. Adam
G. R. Adam*
Affiliation:
Royal Observatory Edinburgh

Extract

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The automatic star follower or autoguider described in this paper was designed for the Edinburgh 40/60 cm Schmidt camera. The stellar image in the focal plane of the 15 cm f/18 guide telescope is split optically to produce four stationary images which are sampled by a single image dissector tube, whose sequential output signals are proportional to the intensity of illumination in each quadrant. These signals are compared to produce error signals which are a measure of the radial displacement of the star. Guiding corrections in both right ascension and declination are applied to the fine motions of the Schmidt drive mechanism.

Measurements made on a typical plate given an exposure time of 30 min, and using guide stars down to magnitude 8.5 indicate a guiding accuracy of better than 0.14 arcsec or 2 μm at the focus of the guide telescope.

Type
Part I. Control of Telescopes
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 11: Automation in Optical Astrophysics , 1971 , pp. 43 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Observatory 1971

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