Relativistic stellar aberration for the Space Interferometry Mission: parallax analysis

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how relativistic stellar aberration affects parallax measurements in the Space Interferometry Mission and finds that spacecraft navigation errors have negligible impact on astrometric accuracy.

Contribution

It extends previous work by evaluating the influence of navigational errors on parallax accuracy, demonstrating their negligible effect for SIM.

Findings

Navigational errors minimally impact parallax accuracy.

Relativistic aberration effects are significant for astrometry.

Results inform future mission navigation and data analysis strategies.

Abstract

This paper is a continuation of our previous analysis (i.e. Turyshev 2002a, 2002b) of the relativistic stellar aberration requirements for the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM). Here we have considered a problem of how the expected astrometric accuracy of parallax determination will constrain the accuracy of the spacecraft navigation. We show that effect of the spacecraft's navigational errors on the accuracy of parallax determination with SIM will be negligible. We discuss the implication of the results obtained for the future mission analysis.