Related papers: Relativistic Reference Frames for Astrometry and N…
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…
Recent theoretical works on alternative metric theories of gravity give greater significance to solar-system tests of General Relativity. In particular, it is suggested that the post-Newtonian parameter $\gamma$ ought to be determined with…
Deep-space laser ranging will be ideal for testing relativistic gravity, and mapping the solar-system to an unprecedented accuracy. ASTROD (Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical Devices) and ASTROD I are such missions.…
Modern astrometry is based on angular measurements at the micro-arcsecond level. At this accuracy a fully general relativistic treatment of the data reduction is required. This paper concludes a series of articles dedicated to the problem…
Gaia is a satellite mission of the European Space Agency which is creating a catalogue of extremely accurate positions, distances and space motions of two billion stars in our Galaxy, along with more than one hundred thousand solar system…
Current GNSS systems rely on global reference frames which are fixed to the Earth (via the ground stations) so their precision and stability in time are limited by our knowledge of the Earth dynamics. These drawbacks could be avoided by…
The relativistic theories of light propagation are generalized by introducing two new parameters $\varsigma$ and $\eta$ in the second post-Newtonian (2PN) order, in addition to the parameterized post-Newtonian parameters $\gamma$ and…
Gaia is a fully-approved all-sky astrometric and photometric survey due for launch in 2011. It will measure accurate parallaxes and proper motions for everything brighter than G=20 (ca. 10^9 stars). Its primary objective is to study the…
In this paper, we present an overview of ASTROD (Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical Devices) and ASTROD I mission concepts and studies. The missions employ deep-space laser ranging using drag-free spacecraft to map the…
The increasing precision of spacecraft radiometric tracking data experienced in the last number of years, coupled with the huge amount of data collected and the long baselines of the available datasets, has made the direct observation of…
Due to its relatively large eccentricity and proximity to the Sun, Mercury's orbital motion provides one of the best solar-system tests of relativistic gravity. We emphasize the number of feasible relativistic gravity tests that can be…
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…
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 "Breakthrough Starshot" aims at sending near-speed-of-light cameras to nearby stellar systems in the future. Due to the relativistic effects, a trans-relativistic camera naturally serves as a spectrograph, a lens, and a wide-field…
We address the issue of relativistic stellar aberration requirements for the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM). Motivated by the importance of this issue for SIM, we have considered a problem of relative astrometric observations of two…
This paper is a continuation of our previous analysis (i.e. Turyshev 2002a, 2002b) of the relativistic stellar aberration requirements for the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM). Here we have considered a problem of how the expected…
Observational data from the ESA astrometric mission Gaia determining the positions of celestial objects within an accuracy of few microarcseconds will be soon fully available. Other satellite-based space missions are currently planned to…
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…
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…
The Breakthrough Starshot project aims to send centimeter-sized, gram-scale "StarChip" probes to Alpha Centauri at a speed of $\sim0.2c$. On the other hand, Zhang \& Li recently proposed that trans-relativistic cameras may be sent to any…