Tracking device for portable astrophotography of the night sky

1. A tracking device suitable for use when performing astrophotography, comprising:

a guider camera;

at least one tilt stage, the topmost of said stages arranged to support an astrophotography camera and said guider camera; and

first, second and third actuators coupled to said at least one tilt stage such that said astrophotography camera and said guider camera can be tilted about three axes;

said guider camera and actuators configured for connection to electronics which include a computer, said computer programmed to:

in a calibration mode, perform a calibration procedure which determines the effect of each actuator on the positions of at least two objects within the field-of-view (FOV) of said guider camera; and

in a tracking mode, operate said actuators as needed to maintain the positions of said at least two objects constant within said FOV;

wherein said calibration procedure comprises:

taking a first image with said guider camera;

detecting the locations of said at least two objects within a first field-of-view (FOV) of said guider camera;

operating said first actuator so as to change the FOV of said guider camera to a second FOV;

taking a second image with said guider camera;

detecting the locations of said at least two objects within said second FOV;

repeating said imaging, location detecting and actuator operating steps for said second actuator and for said third actuator;

for each of said first and second images, calculating the X, Y and rotation offsets between the at least two objects in the first and second images; and

calculating the actuator motions needed to obtain or produce said offsets.

2. The tracking device of claim 1 , further comprising a computer, said computer being a single board computer.

3. The tracking device of claim 1 , further comprising a computer, said computer being a separate desktop or laptop computer which is electronically linked to said guider camera and actuators.

4. The tracking device of claim 3 , wherein said electronic link is via one or more protocols selected from Ethernet, USB, and wireless protocols.

5. The tracking device of claim 1 , wherein each of said actuators is a stepper motor, said electronics further comprising respective motor controllers coupled between said computer and each of said stepper motors.

6. The tracking device of claim 1 , further comprising sensors on each of said stages which are coupled to said computer and which enable each of said stages to be positioned in a known ‘zero’ position prior to entering said tracking mode.

7. The tracking device of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface coupled to said computer with which a user can initiate said calibration mode and said tracking mode.

8. The tracking device of claim 1 , wherein said guider camera is a model ST-i from Santa Barbara Instruments Group (SBIG).

9. The tracking device of claim 1 , further comprising an astrophotography camera, wherein said guider camera is arranged to view the same region of the sky as said astrophotography camera.

10. The tracking device of claim 1 , further comprising an astrophotography camera, wherein said guider camera is initially pointed at a fixed point in the celestial sphere, independent of the pointing direction of said astrophotography camera.

11. The tracking device of claim 1 , wherein said at least two objects comprise two stars.

12. The tracking device of claim 1 , wherein said at least one stage comprises first, second and third stacked, orthogonal tilt stages, each comprising a tangent arm.

13. The tracking device of claim 1 , wherein said at least one tilt stage comprises a plate that can be tilted about two axes, and an upper tilt stage capable of providing azimuthal rotation.

14. The tracking device of claim 1 , wherein said at least one tilt stage comprises inner and outer gimbaled plates.

15. The tracking device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a computer; and

an additional two-axis mechanism interposed between said topmost tilt stage and said astrophotography camera and said guider camera and arranged to be controlled by said computer;

said computer and additional two-axis mechanism arranged to enable said astrophotography camera and said guider camera to be pointed anywhere in the sky in azimuth and elevation.

16. The tracking device of claim 1 , wherein said electronics are arranged to provide closed-loop control of said actuators.

17. A method of guiding an astrophotography camera, comprising:

providing a mechanism capable of tilting an astrophotography camera and guider camera about three axes;

performing a calibration procedure, comprising:

imaging at least two objects within the field-of-view (FOV) of said guider camera;

moving said astrophotography camera and guider camera;

re-imaging said at least two objects; and

determining the effect of said movement on the positions of said at least two objects; and

operating said mechanism as needed to maintain the positions of said at least two objects constant within said FOV;

wherein said calibration procedure comprises:

taking a first image with said guider camera;

detecting the locations of said at least two objects within a first FOV of said guider camera;

tilting said mechanism about a first axis so as to change the FOV of said guider camera to a second FOV;

taking a second image with said guider camera;

detecting the locations of said at least two objects within said second FOV;

repeating said imaging, location detecting and tilting steps for said second axis and said third axis;

for each of said first and second images, calculating the X, Y and rotation offsets between the at least two objects in the first and second images; and

calculating the tilting needed to obtain or produce said offsets.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein operating said mechanism as needed to maintain the positions of said at least two objects constant within said FOV comprises providing closed-loop control of said mechanism.