Astrometry And Data Centers

Combining Astrometry and Spectroscopy

Orbital solutions for binary or multiple stellar systems that combine astrometry (e.g., position angles and angular separations) with spectroscopy (radial velocities) have important advantages over astrometric-only or spectroscopic-only solutions. In many cases they allow the determination of the absolute masses of the components, as well as the distance. Yet, these kinds of combined solutions ...

Data Management Plans and Data Centers

Data management plans, data sharing plans and the like are now required by funders worldwide as part of research proposals. Concerned with promoting the notion of open scientific data, funders view such plans as the framework for satisfying the generally accepted requirements for data generated in funded research projects, among them that it be accessible, usable, standardized to the degree pos...

Astrometry and Relativity

— General relativistic effects in astrophyiscal systems have been detected thanks to accurate astrometric measurements. We outline some keystones of astrometry such as stellar aberration (argument development during the years 1727-1872); Mercury’s perihelion precession (1845-1916); solar disk oblateness (19662001); relativistic light deflection (1916-1919); lunar geodetic precession (1916-1988)...

Improving the Absolute Astrometry of HST Data with GSC-II

We have used the new GSC-II to significantly improve the absolute astrometric accuracy of a large number of ACS datasets from the first years of ACS operations, reducing the initial levels of uncertainty (typically 1 2”, or more in some cases) to an accuracy of about 0.1 0.3”. There are typically enough GSC-II objects in the field of view of the ACS/WFC detectors to enable a robust solution to ...

Energy-Efficient Data Centers