The Opportunities and Challenges for Astrometry in the 21st Century

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Astrometry, Reference Systems

Scientific paper

Astronometry and Celestial Mechanics have entered a new era with the advent of Micro-arcsecond positions, parallaxes and proper motions. Recent advances in radio interferometric techniques and the scheduled space-based optical observatories have made it possible to address cutting-edge science topics that were far beyond our grasp only a few years ago. It will soon be possible to determine definitive distances to Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables, the center of our Galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds and other Local Group members. We will measure the orbital parameters of dwarf galaxies that are merging with the Milky Way, define the kinematics, dynamics and structure of our Galaxy and search for evidence of the Dark Matter that makes up most of the mass in the universe. Stellar masses will be determined routinely to 1% accuracy so that detailed test of stellar evolution theory can finally be made and we will be able to make full orbit solutions and mass determinations for Extrasolar planetary systems. Very large ground-based telescopes will soon be built to measure positions, parallaxes and proper motions at the milli-arcsecond level. These ground-based telescopes, while more limited in accuracy, will produce enormous amounts of data and enable us to study the spatial and kinematical distributions of stars to much fainter magnitudes than the space observatories.

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