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Use of pulsars for ship navigation: an alternative to the sextant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2022

Janusz Adamson Open the ORCID record for Janusz Adamson [Opens in a new window]
Janusz Adamson*
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Independent Researcher
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E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

A new method is proposed for determining a ship's position at sea using naturally occurring pulsar signals to provide an alternative to the sextant. Use is made of four distinct pulsar radio signals whose timing stabilities are comparable to atomic clocks and whose characteristic signatures can be used as natural radio navigation beacons. Pulse peak time difference measurements, accurate to within 10−5 and 10−6 s, were generated for a key reference observatory which provides long-term pulsar timing observations and for the unknown ship location. These time differences when multiplied by the velocity of light provide a distance value that is fundamental in calculating the ship's position. Resultant simulations provided a position accuracy to ≈1⋅1 km (≈0⋅6 nm) for the higher timing difference measurement. A single-pulsar-based approach, which gave a position accuracy to ≈2⋅8 km (≈1⋅5 nm), was also investigated for affordable equipment solutions and comparison with NASA space-based navigation experiments.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 75 , Issue 5 , September 2022 , pp. 1049 - 1068
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Institute of Navigation

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