Related papers: Apparent Positions of Planets
The irregular satellites of the giant planets are believed to have been captured during the evolution of the solar system. Knowing their physical parameters, such as size, density, and albedo is important for constraining where they came…
Recent resolutions passed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on astronomical reference systems, time scales, and Earth rotation models are the most significant set of international agreements in positional astronomy in several…
The fields of occultation and microlensing are linked historically. Early this century, occultation of the Sun by the Moon allowed the apparent positions of background stars projected near the limb of the Sun to be measured and compared…
In this paper, we describe a very simple method to calculate the positions of the planets in the sky. The technique used enables us to calculate planetary positions to an accuracy of $\stackrel{<}{_{\sim}} 1^{\circ}$ for $\pm 50$ years from…
I present a review of astrometric techniques and instrumentation utilized to search for, detect, and characterize extra-solar planets. First, I briefly summarize the properties of the present-day sample of extrasolar planets, in connection…
We introduce a new method of searching for and characterizing extra-solar planets. We show that by monitoring the center-of-light motion of microlensing alerts using the next generation of high precision astrometric instruments the…
The obliquity of a terrestrial planet is an important clue about its formation and critical to its climate. Previous studies using simulated photometry of Earth show that continuous observations over most of a planet's orbit can be inverted…
Astrometry as a technique has so far proved of limited utility when employed as either a follow-up tool or to independently search for planetary mass companions orbiting nearby stars. However, this is bound to change during the next decade.…
In this article, we describe a very simple technique to locate naked-eye planets in the sky, to an accuracy of $\sim 1^{\circ}$. The procedure, comprising just three steps, involves very simple manual calculations for planetary orbits…
Orbital parameters of planets are fitted directly to an appropriate set of observations. It is shown how to use the rigorous Deming method combined with a numerical integration of gravitation equations. In all, 65 parameters of the nine…
This paper deals with the problem of astrometric determination of the orbital elements of the outer planets, in particular by assessing the ability of astrometric observations to detect perturbations of the sort expected from the Pioneer…
The Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data have been used lately to estimate the inclination of the orbital plane of candidate extrasolar planets. Whereas most of these investigations derive almost face-on orbits, we show that the…
Future missions, including the Habitable Worlds Observatory, will aim to image Earth-like exoplanets around Sun-like stars in reflected light. Determining whether an exoplanet is in the habitable zone of its star may be difficult in…
Recent ground and space-based observations show that stars with multiple planets are common in the galaxy. Most of these observational methods are biased toward detecting large planets near to their host stars. Because of these…
Improved equations for computing planetary magnitudes are reported. These formulas model V-band observations acquired from the time of the earliest filter photometry in the 1950s up to the present era. The new equations incorporate several…
Radio wavelength astrometry of stars and other objects has a long and productive history. The use of that technique to determine whether stars have planets around them would cover a nearly unique part of the parameter space for detection of…
Accurate positional measurements of planets and satellites are used to improve our knowledge of their dynamics and to infer the accuracy of planet and satellite ephemerides. In the framework of the FP7 ESPaCE project, we provide the…
The increasing number and variety of extrasolar planets illustrates the importance of characterizing planetary perturbations. Planetary orbits are typically described by physically intuitive orbital elements. Here, we explicitly express the…
I tentatively compile the formal uncertainties in the secular rates of change of the orbital elements $a,~e,~I,~\Omega$ and $\varpi$ of the planets of the solar system from the recently released formal errors in $a$ and the nonsingular…
The new approach of the regular spacing of planetary orbits and planet mass distribution in the Solar system is considered. The relative planetary distances will be represented as the inverse composite probabilities of two discrete…