Vol. 17 No. 1 (2018): Mapana Journal of Sciences
Research Articles

Astrometry: The Foundation for Observational Astronomy

Amith Govind
University of Bonn
Bio
Devarshi Choudhury
University of Amsterdam
Bio
Blesson Mathew
CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
Paul K T
CHRIST (Deemed to be University)

Published 2018-01-01

Abstract

Astronomy has seen unprecedented growth in the past century, due to the rise in multiwavelength observations. The foundation for multiwavelength astronomy is given by Astrometry; the science of position and motion determination of celestial bodies. We present a technique of determining equatorial coordinates of celestial bodies from their pixel coordinates. We also present the subsequent results of using this technique in achieving the initial few steps required for the multiwavelength studies of young open clusters.

References

[1] R. Berry and J. Burnell, The handbook of astronomical image processing. 2005.
[2] M. R. Calabretta and E. W. Greisen, “Representations of celestial coordinates in FITS”, Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 395, pp.1077–1122, December 2002.
[3] B. W. Carroll and D. A. Ostlie, An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics. 1996.
[4] W. Fricke and A. Kopff. Fundamental Catalogue (FK 4). 1963.
[5] W. Fricke, H. Schwan, T. Lederle, U. Bastian, R. Bien, G. Burkhardt, B. Du Mont, R. Hering, R. J¨ahrling, H. Jahreiß, S. R¨oser, H.-M. Schwerdtfeger, and H. G. Walter, Fifth fundamental catalogue (FK5). Part 1: The basic fundamental stars, Veroeffentlichungen des Astronomischen Rechen-Instituts Heidelberg, vol. 32, pp.1–106, 1988.
[6] K. J. Johnston and Chr. de Vegt, “Reference frames in astronomy,” Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 37, no. 1, pp.97–125, 1999.
[7] J. Kovalevsky, I. I. Mueller, and B. Kolaczek, editors. Reference frames in astronomy and geophysics, Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol. 154, 1989.
[8] B. G. Marsden, “How to reduce plate measurements,” Sky and Telescope, vol. 64, pp.284, 1982.
[9] R. L. Phelps and K. A. Janes, “Young open clusters as probes of the star formation process. 1: An atlas of open cluster photometry,” Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, vol. 90, pp.31–82, January 1994.
[10] M. F. Skrutskie, R. M. Cutri, R. Stiening, M. D. Weinberg, S. Schneider, J. M. Carpenter, C. Beichman, R. Capps, T. Chester, J. Elias, J. Huchra, J. Liebert, C. Lonsdale, D. G. Monet, S. Price, P. Seitzer, T. Jarrett, J. D. Kirkpatrick, J. E. Gizis, E. Howard, T. Evans, J. Fowler, L. Fullmer, R. Hurt, R. Light, E. L. Kopan, K. A. Marsh, H. L. McCallon, R. Tam, S. Van Dyk, and S. Wheelock, “The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS),” The Astronomical Journal, vol. 131, pp.1163–1183, February 2006.
[11] S. W. Stahler and F. Palla, The Formation of Stars. 2005.
[12] H. G. Walter and O. J. Sovers, editors. Astrometry of fundamental catalogues: the evolution from optical to radio reference frames. 2000.
[13] http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/E/Ecliptic
[14] http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/V/Vernal+Equinox
[15] http://www.gb.nrao.edu/ glangsto/SIP/astrometry.html
[16] https://www.univie.ac.at/webda/navigation.html