Classical and Signature Pulsar Navigation

Sammanfattning

Pulsar navigation is the act of positioning through the measurement of pulsar signals.Pulsars are a type of star that emit periodical pulses in both the radio and x-ray spectrums that can be described by timing models. Two types of pulsar navigation are discussed. A classical navigation method which measures the phase changes between an observer and a reference point using multiple pulsars, requiring large telescopes or long integration times. A signature navigation method is proposed that would work on Earth by folding a measured time series dependent on movement from a specific position, requiring only one pulsar. It is determined that pulsar navigation is outperformed in all aspects by the GPS for usage on Earth and may only be effective as a backup tool or in specific circumstances. The main advantage over regular celestial navigation with starlight is the possibility to measure during the day but it would require starlight to locate pulsars in the relative sky. Pulsar navigation may have a future in replacing contemporary navigational systems in deep space.