Related papers: From Reference Frames to Relativistic Experiments:…
Astrophysical space missions deliver invaluable information about our universe, stellar dynamics of our galaxy, and motion of celestial bodies in the solar system. Astrometric space missions SIM and Gaia will determine distances to stars…
The high accuracy of modern space astrometry requires the use of General Relativity to model the propagation of stellar light through the gravitational field encountered from a source to a given observer inside the Solar System. In this…
Recent modern space missions deliver invaluable information about origin of our universe, physical processes in the vicinity of black holes and other exotic astrophysical objects, stellar dynamics of our galaxy, etc. On the other hand,…
The International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF, Ma et al. 1998) is currently the best realization of a quasi-inertial reference system. It is based on more than 10 years of cumulated geodetic and astrometric VLBI observations of compact…
Astrometry, the measurement of positions and motions of the stars, is one of the oldest disciplines in Astronomy, extending back at least as far as Hipparchus' discovery of the precession of Earth's axes in 190 BCE by comparing his catalog…
The accuracy of astrometric observations conducted via a space-borne optical interferometer orbiting the Earth is expected to approach a few microarcseconds. Data processing of such extremely high-precision measurements requires access to a…
This paper is devoted to a practical model for relativistic reduction of positional observations with an accuracy of 1 \muas which is expected to be attained in the future space astrometry missions. All relativistic effects which are caused…
IAU 2000 resolutions on the reference frames set up a solid theoretical foundation for implementing general relativity in astronomical data processing algorithms and for unambiguous interpretation of measured relativistic effects. We…
A reference frame consists of: a reference space, a time scale and a spatial metric. The geometric structure induced by these objects in spacetime is developed. The existence of a class of spatial metrics that are rigid, have free mobility…
During the last years, much attention has been paid to the astrometric implications of the galactic aberration in proper motions (GA). This effect causes systematic errors in astrometric measurements at a microarcsecond level. Some authors…
The time delay between the arrival of photons of multiple images of time variable sources can be used to constrain absolute distances in the Universe (Refsdal 1964), and in turn obtain a direct estimate of the Hubble constant and other…
Atmospheric turbulence is a serious problem for ground-based interferometers. It places tight limits on both sensitivity and measurement precision. Phase referencing is a method to overcome these limitations via the use of a bright…
The current state of the link problem between radio and optical celestial reference frames is considered. The main objectives of the investigations in this direction during the next few years are the preparation of a comparison and the…
Given the extreme accuracy reached by future global space astrometry, one needs a global relativistic modeling of observations. A relativistic definition of astrometric observables is then essential to find uniquely coordinates, parallax…
In this paper we outline several problems related to the realization of the international celestial and terrestrial reference frames --- the ICRF and ITRF --- at the millimeter level of accuracy, with emphasis on ICRF issues. We consider…
We employ differential astrometric methods to establish a small field reference frame stable at the micro-arcsecond ($\mu$as) level on short timescales using high-cadence simulated observations taken by Gaia in February 2017 of a bright…
Precision measurements of the stars in short-period orbits around the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center are now being used to constrain general relativistic effects, such as the gravitational redshift and periapse precession.…
In this paper we outline several problems related to the realization of the international celestial and terrestrial reference frames ICRF and ITRF at the millimeter level of accuracy, with emphasis on ICRF issues. The main topics considered…
Using very long baseline interferometry data for the sources that comprise the third International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF3), we examine the quality of the formal source position uncertainties of ICRF3 by determining the excess…
In a recent paper we discussed when it is possible to define reference frames nonrotating with respect to distant inertial reference objects (extension of the IAU reference systems to exact general relativity), and how to construct them. We…