On the errors and stability of reference frames

The distribution of systematic errors in the coordinates of 1217 extragalactic radio sources included in the latest version of the ICRF2 (International Celestial Reference Frame) reference catalog has been mapped for the first time by processing VLBI observations from international astrometric and geodetic programs spanning the period 1980–2012. These errors are shown to reach ±1.0 mas (milliarcseconds). However, for a sample of 752 sources observed more than 100 times, these errors do not exceed ±0.2 mas, suggesting that ICRF2 is inhomogeneous. In addition, the individual stability of dozens of extragalactic radio sources and ground-based stations included in the latest version of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame, ITRF2005, has been investigated. Significant linear trends and anomalous shifts reaching ±20 µas (microarcseconds) have been detected for many of the sources. Significant systematic shifts have also been found for some of the reference stations. The results obtained stimulate a search for new methods of analyzing VLBI observations and ways of their global adjustment that would provide greater homogeneity and stability of the ICRF and ITRF. This is needed both to increase the accuracy of determining the astrometric, geodetic, and geodynamic parameters derived from these observations and to facilitate their physical interpretation. The work has been performed with the QUASAR multifunction software package developed at the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences.     

An Abridged Model of the Precession–Nutation of the Celestial Pole

Precise astrometric observations show that significant systematic differences of the order of 10 milliarcseconds (mas) exist between the observed position of the celestial pole in the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) and the position determined using the International Astronomical Union (IAU) 1976 Precession (Lieske et al., 1977) and the IAU 1980 Nutation Theory (Seidelmann, 1982). The International Earth Rotation Service routinely publishes these 'celestial pole offsets', and the IERS Conventions (McCarthy, 1996) recommends a procedure to account for these errors. The IAU, at its General Assembly in 2000, adopted a new precession/nutation model (Mathews et al., 2002). This model, designated IAU2000A, which includes nearly 1400 terms, provides the direction of the celestial pole in the ICRF with an accuracy of ±0.1 mas. Users requiring accuracy no better than 1 mas, however, may not require the full model, particularly if computational time or storage are issues. Consequently, the IAU also adopted an abridged procedure designated IAU2000B to model the celestial pole motion with an accuracy that does not result in a difference greater than 1 mas with respect to that of the IAU2000A model. That IAU2000B model, presented here, is shown to have the required accuracy for a period of more than 50 years from 1995 to 2050.     

国际天球参考系

阐述了１９９８年１月４日起ＩＡＵ采用的天球参考系的定义,以及它与以往采用的光学天球参考架ＦＫ５的关系。介绍了国际天球参考系在射电波段的实现过程,其稳定性的维持方法和它与依巴谷星表之间的关系。重点描述了影响国际天球参考架稳定性的物理因素－河外射电源的结构及其变化,射电源喷流的视超光速现象和由银河系盘星和大质量致密晕的引力透镜效应引起的视自行等。     

Evaluation of catalogues of extragalactic radio sources

A combined catalogue is constructed from the observations of extragalactic radio sources compiled in independent catalogues providing precise positions determined by radio interferometric techniques. Positions and catalogue differences are derived and discussed. The average precision of the combined catalogue is at the level of 0.7 mas in right ascension and 1.3 mas in declination. For the more recent catalogues the systematic differences amount to a fraction of a millisecond of arc.     

未来的国际天球参考架

本文简述了国际天球参考架的发展历史和现在射电参考架的现状—基准源选择的标准和参考架的稳定性。描述了地面上光学观测在依巴谷参考架的维持和加密的一系列工作。介绍由天体测量卫星GAIA和SIM给出的天球参考架可能逵到的精度。详述了在今后十年中地面天体测量的作用以及正在开展有关天球参考架的研究课题 ,同时也列出了我国正在和即将开展天体测量的几个研究课题     

The XPM Catalogue: absolute proper motions of 280 million stars

We combined data from the Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and USNO-A2.0 catalogues in order to derive the absolute proper motions of about 280 million stars distributed all over the sky excluding a small region near the Galactic Centre, in the magnitude range  12 < B < 19 mag  . The proper motions were derived from the 2MASS Point Sources and USNO-A2.0 catalogue positions with a mean epoch difference of about 45 years for the Northern hemisphere and about 17 years for the Southern one. The zero-point of the absolute proper motion frame (the 'absolute calibration') was specified with the use of about 1.45 million galaxies from 2MASS. Most of the systematic zonal errors inherent in the USNO-A2.0 catalogue were eliminated before the calculation of proper motions. The mean formal error of absolute calibration is less than 1 mas yr⁻¹. The XPM Catalogue will be available via CDS in Strasbourg during 2010. The generated catalogue contains the International Celestial Reference System positions of stars for the J2000 epoch, original absolute proper motions, as well as   B , R , J , H   and K magnitudes. A comparison of the proper motions obtained in this work with the data of other recent catalogues of quasars was fulfilled.     

A compiled catalogue of reference stars around 227 ICRF extragalactic radio sources

A compiled catalogue of 21 440 stars with magnitudes between 10 and 17 is prepared from original observations made at the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century. The catalogue contains 227 fields of the celestial sphere centered at ICRF extragalactic radio sources with declinations of ?17 to +89°. The field size is 40′ for both right ascension and declination. The internal accuracy of positions for both coordinates is no worse than 0.1″. A comparison of the stellar positions with the UCAC2 and CMC13 catalogues shows that the average external accuracy is approximately 0.05–0.15″. The positions of 10 795 stars with declinations to +50° are given for the epoch and equinox of J2000.0, whereas the positions of other stars are given for the epoch of observation.     

Corrections to the luni-solar precession derived from a compilation catalogue of extragalactic radio sources

Observation catalogues of extragalactic radio sources obtained by Very long Baseline Interferometry during the last decade agree in the mean to a few milliarcseconds (mas). Within this range the position differences show constant, linear and periodic offsets. To reduce the influence of individual catalogue properties the construction of a compilation catalogue seems to be the appropriate procedure. In some detail the compilation method is described providing simultaneous adjustment of source positions and catalogue corrections. The compilation catalogue consists of 40 objects having positional errors of 0.2 mas in right ascension (RA) and 0.3 mas in declination (Dec). Comparing this catalogue with the IERS Celestial Reference Frame compiled by means of other precepts yields weighted root-mean-square differences of 0.7 mas in RA and 1.3 mas in Dec. Finally, the terms of general precession in RA and Dec are included in the adjustment process giving estimates of the correction to the luni-solar precession between –1 and –3 mas/yr, the latter figure applying when some early data are added.     

ICRF与Gaia-CRF参考架特性分析

天体测量学是天文学中最古老的分支之一, 它是天文学的基础, 对天体物理学和大地测量学的许多方面至关重要.天体测量学的核心任务之一就是建立一个高精度天文参考系, 以便利用这样的惯性参照系来描述天体的位置和运动、研究银河系的运动学特征及对同一天体在不同波段的对应体进行位置认证和比较.当前的天文参考系是参照银河系外天体(主要是活动星系核)的位置来定义的, 称为国际天球参考系(ICRS).在实测上, 与之相对应的基本星表为国际天球参考架(ICRF), 它由甚长基线干涉测量(VLBI)技术在S/X、K和X/Ka波段的观测资料解算而得, 位置精度达到数十微角秒($\mathrm{\mu as}$)水平.另一方面, Gaia卫星的观测也将在光学波段建立类似精度的光学参考架(Gaia-CRF).ICRF与Gaia-CRF的连接成为天体测量领域需要解决的重大问题之一, 这要求对ICRF与Gaia-CRF参考架特性进行细致深入的分析. 首先, 分析了ICRF的整体特性.VLBI星表的内部符合精度估计值在$\mathrm{10\mu as}$和$\mathrm{40\mu as}$之间, 依赖于射电源的观测次数.这一结果一方面验证了ICRF3星表给出的位置噪声水平, 也说明了VLBI技术在天体测量方面的潜力.利用Gaia的河外源位置为参考, 分析了历代ICRF星表的外部符合精度, 指出ICRF3 X/Ka波段参考架存在约$\mathrm{200\mu as}$的系统误差.最后, 发明了一种评估射电源全天分布均匀性的量化指标并改进了ICRF定义源筛选策略, 结果表明相较于ICRF2而言, 这一方法能将ICRF轴指向稳定性提高2至3倍.这些工作很好地解释并补充了国际上ICRF3工作组的相关结果. 其次, 研究Gaia-CRF的参考架性质.使用了相对于依巴谷参考架的全局旋转和结合银河系动力学分析两种方法来评估Gaia-CRF1的惯性水平, 指出Gaia-CRF1可能存在约$\mathrm{0.3mas\cdot yr^{-1}}$的剩余旋转.对于Gaia-CRF2, 研究了其系统精度与河外源样本极限星等的依赖关系, 发现Gaia-CRF2的整体精度几乎不受星等差的影响.这一结果可作为未来ICRF与Gaia-CRF连接源选择的参考. 活动星系核的光学-射电位置差是影响参考架连接精度的重要因素之一.本文首次将光学-射电位置差研究延伸到K和Ka波段, 并研究其与河外源性质参数的相关性, 发现: 光学-射电位置差与星等的相关性是由于星等差而非真实的物理原因造成的, 因此在前人工作中被忽略的暗源也有可能作为ICRF与Gaia-CRF连接源.此外, 本文提出了一种新的参考架连接方法, 即在Gaia-CRF2框架下重新处理VLBI的历史观测资料.先期结果发现使用Gaia-CRF2来替代ICRF3尚不足以显著提高VLBI产品的精度, 但未来在Gaia-CRF参考架精度进一步提高后, 此方法仍值得进一步检验. 本文的研究, 一方面指出了ICRF与Gaia-CRF参考架中可能存在的种种问题, 另一方面也为将来光学与射电参考架连接提供了第一手的参考资料.     

新参考系的引入对天体测量学的影响

由于观测、参考架、模型、时间尺度精度的不断提高和完善，国际天球参考系(ICRS)被引入使用，IAU2000年大会决定从2003年起采用新的天球中介极(CIP)、新的天球中介原点(CIO)、新的岁差一章动模型和新的UTI定义等，并定义了新的中介的运动参考架，由此给天体测量学带来很大的影响，天体测量学的内容和实践发生了许多重要的变化。据此，对天体测量学的术语、概念和定义的变化作了描述，并讨论了变化的原因和对天体测量学的影响。新的一套天体测量理论和方法正在变更之中，我们应及时跟上这个领域的发展步伐。     

Positions of 46 radio stars: Observations of 1984–1985 and 1989–1991

The results of observations of 46 radio stars carried out with the Repsold meridian circle of the Kyyiv University Observatory in 1984–1985 and 1989–1991 are presented. The main goal of these observations is to improve the optical positions of radio stars for determination of a relationship between the optical and VLBI reference frames. The standard errors of averaged positions in two catalogues amount to 0.2 arcsec. These results were compared with those obtained with the Bordeaux meridian circle.     

天球和地球历书原点

国际天球参考系的使用、观测精度的提高和方法的改善要求采用与地球轨道运动无关的运动赤道上的起算点，Guinot提出的非旋转原点可作为这样一种选择。非旋转原点依赖于天球参考极。IAU决定从2003年起采用天球中间极作为天球参考极。非旋转原点在天球参考系的使用，可给出在天球中间极赤道上的天球历书原点，非旋转原点在地球参考系的使用，可给出在天球中间极赤道上的地球历书原点。回顾了非旋转原点的概念、以历书原点为参考的天球参考系和地球参考系的坐标变换，经出了在微角秒精度下天球参考极的坐标和历书原点的位置，讨论了采用历书原点对测定UT1的影响，指出当岁差章动模型、天极补偿、分点改正得到改善时，基于历书原点的UT1定义不需要更改，从而保证了UT1的连续。     

Two-Component Structure of the Radio Source 0014+813 from VLBI Observations within the CONT14 Program

We consider a method of reconstructing the structure delay of extended radio sources without constructing their radio images. The residuals derived after the adjustment of geodetic VLBI observations are used for this purpose. We show that the simplest model of a radio source consisting of two point components can be represented by four parameters (the angular separation of the components, the mutual orientation relative to the poleward direction, the flux-density ratio, and the spectral index difference) that are determined for each baseline of a multi-baseline VLBI network. The efficiency of this approach is demonstrated by estimating the coordinates of the radio source 0014+813 observed during the two-week CONT14 program organized by the International VLBI Service (IVS) in May 2014. Large systematic deviations have been detected in the residuals of the observations for the radio source 0014+813. The averaged characteristics of the radio structure of 0014+813 at a frequency of 8.4 GHz can be calculated from these deviations. Our modeling using four parameters has confirmed that the source consists of two components at an angular separation of ~0.5 mas in the north–south direction. Using the structure delay when adjusting the CONT14 observations leads to a correction of the average declination estimate for the radio source 0014+813 by 0.070 mas.     

The most compact bright radio-loud AGN—I. A new target sample selected for the space VLBI

We investigated the archival ground-based VLBI images of the extragalactic radio sources included in both the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and the Planck catalogues, and selected 49 bright and compact sources as potential targets for space Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations at mm wavelengths. These sources have a flat radio continuum spectrum between 33 and 94 GHz. They are identified as core-dominated active galactic nuclei (AGN), located at declinations above ?40^°, and have never been observed with ground-based VLBI at 86 GHz. The radio properties of the 49 new sources are presented. We compare this new sample with similar samples of compact AGN available from earlier studies. The new candidates, together with the existing bright compact AGN sample identified from 86-GHz ground-based VLBI imaging surveys, form a catalogue of more than 160 AGN. These could be primary targets for mm-VLBI observations on the ground, as well as for future mm-wavelength space VLBI missions such as the project with two satellites currently under study in China.     

一种新的射电源表综合方法

本文提出利用正交完备函数系拟合射电源表的局部系统差，并通过选择初始星表确定综合射电源表系统的轴方向，在综合计算时以射电源表包含的所有源坐标决定其轴方向．整个综合过程概念清晰，计算量较小．检验结果表明，用新方法得到的综合射电源表可靠性与稳定性都很好．     

A sharper view of the outer Galaxy at 1420 and 408 MHz from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey II: the catalogue of extended radio sources

A new catalogue of extended radio sources has been prepared based on arcminute-resolution 1420-MHz images from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). The new catalogue provides both 1420- and 408-MHz flux density measurements on sources found near the Galactic plane in the second quadrant of our Galaxy. In addition cross-identifications are made with other major radio catalogues and information is provided to facilitate the recovery of CGPS image data associated with each catalogued source. Numerous new radio sources are identified and the catalogue provides a comprehensive summary of both newly discovered and previously known H  ii regions and supernova remnants in the outer Galaxy. The catalogue should be of use both for synoptic studies of Galactic structure and for placing higher resolution observations, at radio and other wavelengths, in context.     

tempo2, a new pulsar-timing package – I. An overview

Contemporary pulsar-timing experiments have reached a sensitivity level where systematic errors introduced by existing analysis procedures are limiting the achievable science. We have developed tempo2 , a new pulsar-timing package that contains propagation and other relevant effects implemented at the 1-ns level of precision (a factor of ∼100 more precise than previously obtainable). In contrast with earlier timing packages, tempo2 is compliant with the general relativistic framework of the IAU 1991 and 2000 resolutions and hence uses the International Celestial Reference System, Barycentric Coordinate Time and up-to-date precession, nutation and polar motion models. tempo2 provides a generic and extensible set of tools to aid in the analysis and visualization of pulsar-timing data. We provide an overview of the timing model, its accuracy and differences relative to earlier work. We also present a new scheme for predictive use of the timing model that removes existing processing artefacts by properly modelling the frequency dependence of pulse phase.     

Precise positions of selected minor planets from the observations of 1991–1993

We present two catalogues of positions of selected asteroids in the system of the Tycho Reference Catalogue from the photographic observations carried out on Mt. Maidanak with the AFR-1 wide-field astrograph (D = 230 mm, F = 2300 mm) and in Zvenigorod with the Zeiss wide-field astrograph (D = 400 mm, F = 2000 mm) in 1991–1993. The catalogue obtained on Maidanak contains 109 positions of selected asteroids; the one obtained in Zvenigorod contains 177 asteroid positions. The two catalogues are compared to show that they are uniform. The one-position mean square errors in the Maidanak and Zvenigorod catalogues are calculated: 0.306″, 0.153″ and 0.370″, 0.219″.     

研制低纬子午环初衷的沿革

介绍了在低纬子午环研制过程中，如何跟踪国内外测量方法和科学技术的发展，调整该仪器的主要课题目标：开始时仅计划在低纬度地区进行天体位置的绝对测定，改善基本星表系统；在１ｍ望远镜试验ＣＣＤ底片重迭法成功后，打算把该仪器绝对测定的恒星位置与河外天体联系起来，间接地建立准惯性天球参考架；当国外传统子午环配备ＣＣＤ测微器作相对测量后，提出了在该仪器上配备ＣＣＤ测微器作绝对测定的方法，用其观测数据直接建立实用的准惯性天球参考架，并为太阳系和银河系研究提供有用数据的总体目标。