Building on the Legacy of Astronomical Standards

• Autores: Kaplan, G. H.
• Año de publicación: 2025
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: documento de conferencia
• Materia: Ciencias Astronómicas; Astronomical standards; International Astronomical Union (IAU); Reference systems
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de La Plata

International cooperation and collaboration on astronomical projects of various kinds followed the improvements in communication and travel that rapidly advanced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The history of international astronomical standards probably dates to the International Meridian Conference in 1884 in Washington and the Paris Conference of 1896. The formation of the IAU in 1919 institutionalized international cooperation in astronomy. Before the midpoint of the 20th century, only a few organizations worldwide, mostly the national observatories, had the capabilities to compute and distribute the data for fundamental astronomy, such as the celestial coordinates of the Sun, Moon, and planets; sidereal time; eclipse circumstances; apparent places of stars; the data needed for celestial navigation; and precise time. The situation changed after World War II as electronic computers became available at scientific institutions and more precise observational techniques were invented, some involving spaced-based instruments. As many common astronomical computations became more "democratized” in the latter part of the 20th century, IAU standards, as well as those from other institutions, such as the IUGG and IERS, of necessity became more comprehensive and detailed, covering time scales, constants, reference systems, Earth orientation models, and the implementation of relativity in various astronomical computations. Thus, the evolution of astronomical standards traces the major advances in observational technology, theoretical sophistication, and computing power that have defined our science for the last century.
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas