Published July 2016
| Version v1
Journal article
Electronic solar compass for high precision orientation on any planet
Creators
- 1. ENEA, FSN Department, C.P. 65, 00044 Frascati (Italy)
Description
A compact, fully automatic electronic solar compass has been developed at the ENEA Frascati Laboratories. The compass is inspired to ''camera obscura'' sundials like those inside churches. Sun ephemerides are calculated using an approximate but effective analytical solution of Kepler's laws, where the Earth (or other planets) orbit main parameters are introduced. The instrument is light, cheap and it has an accuracy better than 1 arcmin. Some examples of application of the device as well as the possibility to use it on Mars are presented.
Availability note (English)
Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/11/07/C07014Additional details
Identifiers
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Journal of Instrumentation
- Journal Volume
- 11
- Journal Issue
- 07
- Journal Page Range
- p. C07014
- ISSN
- 1748-0221
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United Kingdom
- Country of Input or Organization
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- INIS RN
- 49005590
- Subject category
- S46: INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
- Descriptors DEI
- ACCURACY; ANALYTICAL SOLUTION; CAMERAS; COMPASS DETECTOR; EQUIPMENT; SUN
- Descriptors DEC
- MAIN SEQUENCE STARS; MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS; MEASURING INSTRUMENTS; RADIATION DETECTORS; STARS