Related papers: From Reference Frames to Relativistic Experiments:…
While conventional imaging in VLBI provides information only about the relative position between different features of a given source, phase-referenced observations can provide precise positional information with respect to an external…
Gravitational time delays, observed in strong lens systems where the variable background source is multiply-imaged by a massive galaxy in the foreground, provide direct measurements of cosmological distance that are very complementary to…
Context: We introduce the computation of global reference frames from Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations at the Vienna International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) Analysis Center (VIE) in detail. We focus…
We outline an approach yielding proper motions with higher precision than exists in present catalogs for a sample of stars in the Kepler field. To increase proper motion precision we combine first moment centroids of Kepler pixel data from…
Multiply lensed sources experience a relative time delay in the arrival of photons. This effect can be used to measure absolute distances and the Hubble constant ($H_0$) and is known as time-delay cosmography. The methodology is independent…
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.…
Context. We present a celestial reference frame (CRF) based on the combination of independent, multifrequency radio source position catalogs using nearly 40 years of Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations at the standard geodetic…
Satellite tracking involves sending electromagnetic signals to Earth. Both the orbit of the spacecraft and the electromagnetic signals themselves are affected by the curvature of spacetime. The arrival time of the pulses is compared to the…
In order to establish the position of the center of mass of the Earth in the International Celestial Reference Frame, observations of the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) constellation using the IVS network are important. With a good…
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…
We take causality and uniqueness of events observation as our driving forces. They are built in in the way we define distinct observers, which then require a finite time to communicate between each other. This unavoidably leads to the…
The radio observations are based on dual frequency Mark--III VLBI data from 1979 until the end of 1993. Currently 436 sources define the celestial inertial frame. A comparison to the JPL94R01 catalog is made. Position vs. time plots of…
Remarkable development of cosmology is benefited from the increasingly improved measurements of cosmic distances including absolute distances and relative distances. In recent years, however, the emerged cosmological tensions motivate us to…
Astrometry is a powerful technique in astrophysics to measure three-dimensional positions of stars and other astrophysical objects, including exoplanets and the gravitational influence they have on each other. Interferometric astrometry is…
Aims. We investigate the maximum astrometric precision that can be reached on moving targets observed with digital-sensor arrays, and provide an estimate for its ultimate lower limit based on the Cram\'er-Rao bound. Methods. We extend…
Existing capabilities in laser ranging, optical interferometry and metrology, in combination with precision frequency standards, atom-based quantum sensors, and drag-free technologies, are critical for the space-based tests of fundamental…
Using the adaptive optics facilities at the 200-in Hale and 10-m Keck II, we observed in the near infrared a sample of 12 binary and multiple stars and one open cluster. We used the near diffraction limited images of these systems to…
Precision astrometry at microarcsecond accuracy has application to a wide range of astrophysical problems. This paper is a study of the science questions that can be addressed using an instrument that delivers parallaxes at about 4…
Infrared observations of stellar orbits about Sgr A* probe the mass distribution in the inner parsec of the Galaxy and provide definitive evidence for the existence of a massive black hole. However, the infrared astrometry is relative and…
A generalized definition of a frame of reference in spaces with affine connections and metrics is proposed based on the set of the following differential-geometric objects: (a) a non-null (non-isotropic) vector field, (b) the orthogonal to…