DayStar: Modeling and test results of a balloon-borne daytime star tracker

Abstract

High altitude balloons are capable of supporting astronomical observations with virtually no image degradation due to atmospheric turbulence. To take advantage of this space-like seeing, a telescope must be pointed and stabilized with sub-arcsecond precision. This problem consists of two parts: providing an error signal, and using it to correct the pointing. This paper addresses error signal acquisition, specifically focusing on modeling and flight testing of the DayStar star tracker.