With the advent of powerful handheld green lasers, sky show staff and/or astronomers are able to easily point out stars and constellations, either in the real night sky, or inside a planetarium. Often, the green lasers will be used during “sky parties” to indicate the location of elements in the night sky. Unfortunately, they require a trained observer, who knows the location of celestial bodies, to be used effectively.

Recently, a number of handheld tools have been made available to assist in the location and identification of stars and other objects in the night sky. For example, the Celestron SkyScout. These devices use various technologies (ex. GPS, real-time clocks, etcs) to determine where celestial objects will be located. Unfortunately, they do not pinpoint or highlight the exact location of stars, and are often limited to a single user (looking through the device).

This technical disclosure outlines a device that combines the indicating power of a green laser, with the location abilities of tools such as the Celestron SkyScout. Combining these ideas, along with poweful open source astronomy tools (ex. Stellarium) results in a stand-alone device able to illuminate objects in the night sky.

Primary components include:

• A GPS module. Used by the controlling computer to determine the location of the device (latitude, longitude, and elevation).
• A real-time clock, or clock signal from the GPS subsystem. Used by the controlling computer to determine the current time at the location of the device.
• An electronic compass. Used by the controlling computer to determine the alignment of the device, in relation to the earth based coordinates (North, South, East, West).
• A gimble system, used to maintain a level plane for the projection portion of the device.
• A green (or other powerful) laser, used for projection and highlighting of objects in the night sky (ex. the moon, coments, stars, constellations, and other physical bodies).
• A galvo type (or similar) mirror system. Used to control the location of the laser beam, and controlled by the controlling computer.
• A planetarium type software (such as is available from stellarium.org). Used by the controlling computer to deterimine the location of celestial bodies in the night sky.
• A series of controller boards, used to interface between subsystems (such as the GPS, galvo driver board, etc).
• Custom software, running on the controlling computer, used to interface between all of the hardware and software subsystems.

Example usage:

• “Sky tours” can be pre-programmed. These programs, running on the controlling computer, walk users through a real-time outdoor sky show. The system, using pre-recorded voice-overs, uses the laser system to project into the night sky. Stars can be highlighted with points or small circles of light. Constellations can be drawn directly into the night sky.
• A user may select an object to view in the night sky, and the system will automatically highlight the object using the laser. The user may then view the object using any number of methods (eye, telescope, etc).
• Astronomers and others can introduce night sky viewing with a real “wow” factor. While indoor planetariums are interesting, actually “painting” the real night sky should provide observers with a more realistic experience. It’s no longer a program played on a screen / dome, but a real-life involving experience.

This concept is being provided to the general public so that they may develop their own system. It is the intention of this technical disclosure to present a “prior art” document which can be referenced in the future. This idea was conceived on December 14, 2007 by Ronald L. Nelson II and Evelyn Nelson of Austin, Texas. It was documented electronically on December 28, 2007. If you would like to learn more about this concept and the systems being developed, please leave a comment with this posting.