Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005jsrs.meet..172w&link_type=abstract
In: Journées 2004 - systèmes de référence spatio-temporels. Fundamental astronomy: new concepts and models for high accuracy obs
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Nomenclature, Telescope Pointing
Scientific paper
Pointing a telescope (or radio antenna) at celestial sources is, by the usual fundamental-astronomy standards, a rather low-accuracy application. Predictions of only 100 mas accuracy would in most respects be adequate, and this is well within the capabilities of even the pre-2000 models and procedures. However, the positional-astronomy part of the pointing application involves a long chain of transformations and corrections that has to be understood both by the astrophysicists who will use the telescope and by the engineers who will develop the control systems. These users, as well as being non-specialists in positional astronomy, have, with few exceptions, encountered only the old equinox-based methods. In addition, considerations of real-time computing efficiency usually make it necessary to calculate different effects and coordinates at different rates, rather than a straightforward end-to-end transformation for a given moment in time, introducing the need to label various "in-between" coordinates. All of these factors make telescope pointing a good test case for the post-IAU-2000 nomenclature. How easy is it to describe to a non-specialist how to point a telescope, and does the introduction of the new paradigm help or hinder this elementary task?
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