Relativistic Reference Frames in Astrometry

Abstract

Astrometry can be defined as the measurement of space-time coordinates of photon events. For example, in principle, in classical optical astrometry, we measure the components of velocity, and hence the direction, of an incoming photon with respect to an instrumental coordinate system, and the clock time, at the instant of detection. The observer’s coordinate system at any instant can be identified with a local inertial frame. In the case of interferometric observations, the measurements are of clock times of arrival of a wavefront at two detectors whose spatial coordinates are specified with respect to instantaneous inertial frames.