The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 28, 2021
Filed:
Mar. 15, 2017
Qinetiq Limited, Farnborough, GB;
Mark Anthony O'Dell, Pershore, GB;
Stephen Barry Foulkes, Fownhope, GB;
Philip John Kent, Powick, GB;
QINETIQ LIMITED, Farmborough, GB;
Abstract
A celestial navigation system includes an optical device for receiving light from a celestial object, a spectrometer for measuring a spectrum of the light in sufficient detail to identify absorption and/or emission features, and a processor for processing the spectrum to match the spectrum, or a processed version thereof, against a set of reference spectra information in a database, a device for measuring the pointing direction of the optical device and a clock. The matching may be on a maximum likelihood basis. The system is thus able, on identification of a single star, and, using commonly available navigational almanacs, to calculate a geographical position. Celestial navigation takes place even when only one celestial object (that is also within the database) is visible, although improved accuracy may be obtained with multiple observations. Advantageously, the database includes stars of the K and/or M type, that have more characteristic spectral content.