Appeal 2007-1087
Application 11/150,806
source (Specification 2). The user aligns the telescope with a first bright star
to initialize a motion signal (id.). After initializing the motion signal, the
telescope is directed to search for a second bright star after which the
processor stores the measured angles obtained from the motion signals. This
process is repeated until several measured angles provide a unique solution
for determining the orientation of the telescope (Specification 3).
Independent Claim 9 is exemplary and reads as follows:
9. A method of determining a telescope’s orientation, the method
comprising the steps of:
manually aligning the telescope with a first user-selected celestial
object;
manually aligning the telescope with a second user-selected celestial
object;
detecting a first measured angle between the first celestial object and
the second celestial object;
manually aligning the telescope with a third user-selected celestial
object;
detecting a second measured angle between the second celestial object
and the third celestial object;
using a computer processor to compare the measured angles with
angles stored in a database, thereby identifying the celestial objects; and
using the computer processor to determine the orientation of the
telescope by analyzing known locations of the celestial objects.
The Examiner relies on the following prior art in rejecting the claims:
van Bezooijen US 5,745,869 Apr. 28, 1998
Gagnon US 4,764,881 Aug. 16, 1988
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