Method and Apparatus for Automatic Identification of Celestial Bodies

A method for automatically identifying celestial bodies, the method comprising:

• acquiring a digital image with celestial bodies;
• identifying centroids of the celestial bodies within the digital image;
• generating calibration parameters based on the acquired digital image;
• building three-dimensional line-of-sight vectors to the celestial bodies using the centroids and the calibration parameters;
• calculating inter-celestial body angles associated with the three-dimensional vectors;
• and
• identifying the celestial bodies by comparing the calculated angles with catalogued angles between celestial bodies.

Logic encoded in a computer readable media such that when executed is operable to:

• receive a digital image with celestial bodies;
• identify centroids of the celestial bodies within the digital image;
• generate calibration parameters based on the acquired digital image;
• build three-dimensional line-of-sight vectors to the celestial bodies using the centroids and the calibration parameters;
• calculate angles associated with the three-dimensional vectors;
• and
• identify the celestial bodies by comparing the calculated angles with catalogued angles between celestial bodies.