The ICRF now and in the future
Language
en
Article de revue
This item was published in
Memorie della Societa astronomica italiana. 2012, vol. 83, p. 959
Società astronomica italiana
English Abstract
The current realization of the International Celestial Reference Frame - the ICRF2, in use since January 1, 2010 - includes positions for a total of 3414 extragalactic sources with a noise floor of 40 mu as in the individual ...Read more >
The current realization of the International Celestial Reference Frame - the ICRF2, in use since January 1, 2010 - includes positions for a total of 3414 extragalactic sources with a noise floor of 40 mu as in the individual source coordinates. The ICRF2 positions were determined from measurements acquired at 8.4 and 2.3 GHz with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) over the past 30 years. The frame is constantly improving through joint observational efforts of the VLBI community and by taking advantage of the latest refinements in modeling and data acquisition technology, all of which aim at a denser and more accurate celestial frame. Specific work is targeted towards finding the most compact sources, identifying those that are also bright at optical wavelengths and extending the frame at higher radio frequencies. This paper reviews progress in these areas and draws prospects for aligning the VLBI frame with the future Gaia optical frame in the next decade.Read less <
English Keywords
Reference systems
Quasars: general
Techniques: interferometric
Origin
Hal imported