Improving night sky star image processing algorithm for star sensors.

In this paper, the night sky star image processing algorithm, consisting of image preprocessing, star pattern recognition, and centroiding steps, is improved. It is shown that the proposed noise reduction approach can preserve more necessary information than other frequently used approaches. It is also shown that the proposed thresholding method unlike commonly used techniques can properly perform image binarization, especially in images with uneven illumination. Moreover, the higher performance rate and lower average centroiding estimation error of near 0.045 for 400 simulated images compared to other algorithms show the high capability of the proposed night sky star image processing algorithm.