Related papers: Extragalactic Proper Motions: Gravitational Waves …
Recently, the possibility has emerged of an early detection of astrophysical gravity waves. In certain astronomical configurations, and through a new light-deflection effect, gravity waves can cause apparent shifts in stellar angular…
Breakthroughs in physics and astrophysics are often driven by technological advances, with the recent detection of gravitational waves being one such example. This white paper focuses upon how improved astrometric and spectroscopic…
Predictions from a Galactic Structure and Kinematic model are compared to the absolute proper-motions of about 30,000 randomly selected stars with $9 < B_{\rm J} \le 19$ derived from the Southern Proper-Motion Program (SPM) toward the South…
The isotropy of the universal Hubble expansion is a fundamental tenet of physical cosmology, but it has not been precisely tested during the current epoch, when dark energy is dominant. Anisotropic expansion will produce a shearing velocity…
Peculiar velocities are a precious tool to study the large-scale distribution of matter in the local universe and test cosmological models. However, present measurements of peculiar velocities are based on empirical distance indicators,…
We review attempts to estimate the influence of global cosmological expansion on local systems. Here `local' is taken to mean that the sizes of the considered systems are much smaller than cosmologically relevant scales. For example, such…
We analyse the cosmological evolution of a generalised axion-like field that drives the late-time acceleration of the Universe. This model can exhibit tracking behaviour, which alleviates the coincidence problem. The cosmological…
The Hipparcos catalog provides the first epoch of the celestial reference frame (CRF) in the optical domain and serves as an indispensable tool to verify and improve the Gaia CRF for the brighter stars ($V<11$ mag) and to identify the…
In this paper we investigate how observational effects could possibly bias cosmological inferences from peculiar velocity measurements. Specifically, we look at how bulk flow measurements are compared with theoretical predictions. Usually…
The canonical methods for gravitational wave detection are ground- and space-based laser interferometry, pulsar timing, and polarization of the cosmic microwave background. But as has been suggested by numerous investigators, astrometry…
We have measured the proper motion of the Draco dwarf galaxy using images at two epochs with a time baseline of about two years taken with the Hubble Space Telescope and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Wide Field Channel 1 and 2 provide…
I calculate the classical effects induced by an isotropic mass loss of a body on the orbital motion of a test particle around it; the present analysis is also valid for a variation of the Newtonian constant of gravitation. I perturbatively…
Galactic aberration (GA) is a small effect in proper motions of celestial objects with an amplitude of about 5 $\mu$as/yr already noticeable in highly accurate astrometric observations such as VLBI and Gaia. However accurate accounting for…
The Alcock-Paczynski (AP) effect uses the fact that, when analyzed with the correct geometry, we should observe structure that is statistically isotropic in the Universe. For structure undergoing cosmological expansion with the background,…
Since their first detection in 2015, gravitational wave observations have enabled a variety of studies, ranging from stellar evolution to fundamental physics. In this chapter, we focus on their use as "standard sirens", describing the…
We have had the chance to live through a fascinating revolution in measuring the fundamental empirical cosmological Hubble law. The key progress is analysed : 1) improvement of observational means (ground-based radio and optical…
The gravitational wave, traveling a long cosmological distance to reach interferometers, interacts with the (homogeneous and isotropic) cosmological background, so generally speaking, its amplitude and phase are modified in some nontrivial…
There is an approximately 9% discrepancy, corresponding to 2.4sigma, between two independent constraints on the expansion rate of the universe: one indirectly arising from the cosmic microwave background and baryon acoustic oscillations,…
In our standard geodetic VLBI solutions, we estimate the positions of quasars assuming that their positions do not vary in time. However, in solutions estimating proper motion, a significant number of quasars show apparent proper motion…
Typical observers in the universe do not follow the smooth Hubble expansion, but move relative to it. Such bulk peculiar motions introduce a characteristic scale that is closely analogous to the familiar Jeans length. This "peculiar Jeans…