Star image simulation software of star-tracker

Star tracker is a high accurate attitude measuring instrument used in various spacecrafts. The operation process of the star tracker consists of stars imaging on focal plane through optical lens, star light-to-charge conversion with a CCD sensor, preprocessing of star signal for eliminating noise, centroid calculation with sub-pixel algorithms, and at last the attitude computing and coordination conversion. In this paper, the operation process simulation is implemented except the attitude computing. Some simulation results are given in the paper. The method used in the paper is useful for evaluation of star tracker performance. This software can be used in both various space sensors development and astronomical research. But, if it is used in astronomical research, atmospheric effect must be taken into account.