The U.S. Naval Observatory pole-to-pole catalog: W2J00

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

2

Catalogs, Astrometry

Scientific paper

Between the years 1985 and 1996 the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), using two transit circles, one located in Washington, DC (U.S.A.) and the other in Blenheim, New Zealand, conducted an ambitious program of absolute observations of positions of celestial objects completely covering both hemispheres. Over 737 000 individual observations were made, primarily of the International Reference Stars (IRS) and FK5 stars, as well as all the major planets (except Pluto) and thirteen minor planets. This included some 55 000 observations of day-time objects including the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. The original objective was to form a traditional, all-sky catalog of absolute star positions which could be firmly linked to the dynamical system. However, with the success of the Hipparcos project and the adoption of the ICRF as the celestial reference frame, the primary focus of the pole-to-pole program changed. The stellar positions have been differentially reduced to the system of Hipparcos and these were used to tie the planetary observations into the ICRF. Thus the program has resulted in a body of high quality observational data (average standard deviation of a mean position of about 75 mas) that will provide important input for the production of ICRF-based ephemerides. This is particularly true for the outer and minor planets.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

The U.S. Naval Observatory pole-to-pole catalog: W2J00 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The U.S. Naval Observatory pole-to-pole catalog: W2J00, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The U.S. Naval Observatory pole-to-pole catalog: W2J00 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1491347

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.