Emission coordinates for the navigation in space

Abstract

A general approach to the problem of positioning by means of pulsars or other pulsating sources located at infinity is described. The counting of the pulses for a set of different sources whose positions in the sky and periods are assumed to be known, is used to provide null emission, or light, coordinates for the receiver. The measurement of the proper time intervals between successive arrivals of the signals from the various sources is used to give the final localization of the receiver, within an accuracy controlled by the precision of the onboard clock. The deviation from the flat case is discussed, separately considering the different possible causes: local gravitational potential, finiteness of the distance of the source, proper motion of the source, period decay, proper acceleration due to non-gravitational forces. Calculations turn out to be simple and the result is highly positive. The method can also be applied to a constellation of satellites orbiting the Earth.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, appearing on the Proceedings of the 60th International Astronautical Conference IAC 2009, October 12-16, Daejeong, Kore