Related papers: Astrometry and Relativity
(abridged) Gravitationally lensed quasars can be used as powerful cosmological and astrophysical probes. We can (i) infer the Hubble constant based on the time-delay technique, (ii) unveil substructures along the l.o.s. toward distant…
We examine astronomical observations that would be achievable over a future timeline corresponding to the documented history of human civilization so far, $\sim 10^4$ years. We examine implications for measurements of the redshift drift,…
The global astrometric observations of a GAIA-like satellite were modeled within the PPN formulation of Post-Newtonian gravitation. An extensive experimental campaign based on realistic end-to-end simulations was conducted to establish the…
Total precession (geodetic precession and frame dragging) depends on the velocity of each source of gravitation, which means that it depends on the choice of the coordinate system. We consider the latter as an anomaly specifically in the…
We perform a full analytical and numerical treatment, to the first post-Newtonian (1pN) order, of the general relativistic long-term spin precession of an orbiting gyroscope due to the mass quadrupole moment $J_2$ of its primary without any…
Here we explore a novel approach in order to try to measure the post-Newtonian 1/c^2 Lense-Thirring secular effect induced by the gravitomagnetic field of the Sun on the planetary orbital motion. Due to the relative smallness of the solar…
It is believed that some numerical technique must be employed for the determination of the system parameters of a visual binary or a star with a planet because the relevant equations are not only highly nonlinear but also transcendental…
We investigate the perihelion shift of the planetary motion and the bending of starlight in the Schwarzschild field modified by the presence of a $\Lambda$-term plus a conical defect. This analysis generalizes an earlier result obtained by…
It is now less than a decade since CoRoT initiated the space photometry revolution with breakthrough discoveries, and five years since Kepler started a series of similar advances. I'll set the context for this revolution noting the status…
Microlensing consists in two major effects: (1) variation in the apparent position of the background sources (astrometric component) and (2) flux variations of the background sources (photometric component). While the latter has been…
We investigate lens orbital motion in astrometric microlensing and its detectability. In microlensing events, the light centroid shift in the source trajectory (the astrometric trajectory) falls off much more slowly than the light…
We investigate qualitatively and quantitatively the impact of the general relativistic gravito-electromagnetic forces on hyperbolic orbits around a massive spinning body. The gravito-magnetic field, which is the cause of the well known…
High-precision astrometric and radial-velocity observations require accurate modelling of stellar motions in order to extrapolate measurements over long time intervals, and to detect deviations from uniform motion caused for example by…
We use astrophysical data to shed light on fundamental physics by constraining parametrized theoretical cosmological and gravitational models. Gravitational parameters are those constants that parametrize possible departures from Einstein's…
Gravitational lensing has established itself as a valuable tool in many astrophysical fields in the roughly 20 years of its existence as an observational science. In this brief review, first the basics of lensing are introduced. Then it is…
Nearly fifty years after its inception, the Gravity Probe B satellite mission delivers the first measurements of how a spinning gyroscope precesses in the gravitational warping of spacetime.
We investigate the effects of the aberration of light for a uniformly accelerating observer. The observer we consider is initially at rest with respect to a luminous spherical object--a star, say--and then starts to move away with constant…
In 1953 I heard of an experiment in 1925 by Bengt Str\"omgren where he observed transit times with the meridian circle at the Copenhagen University Observatory measuring the current in a photocell behind slits when a star was crossing. In…
The geodesics of bound spherical orbits i.e. of orbits performing Lense-Thirring precession, are obtained in the case of the $\Lambda$-term within gravito-electromagnetic formalism. It is shown that the presence of the $\Lambda$-term in the…
Relative motions have long been known to mislead the unsuspecting observers to false interpretations of reality. The deceptions are usually brief and unimportant, though relative motions have also led to illusions that were both…