Linking the ICRF and the Future Gaia Optical Frame

P. Charlot (1) , G. Bourda (1) , A. Collioud (1) , R. Porcas (2) , S. Garrington (3)

1 M2A 2009
2 MPIfR
3 Jodrell Bank Observatory

The Gaia space astrometric mission, to be launched by 2012, will survey 500,000 QSOs brighter than magnitude 20, with an astrometric accuracy of a few tens of microarcseconds, hence realizing the extragalactic reference frame for the first time directly at optical wavelengths. For consistency, the Gaia frame will have to be linked to the International Celestial Reference Frame built from VLBI data, based on the extragalactic objects common to the two frames. To this end, we have initiated a VLBI observing program with the VLBA and the EVN to identify the most suitable candidates for this link. We report on the status of this project, including results of imaging of the first 100 candidate sources observed as part of the programme.

Domaines: Instrumentation et méthodes pour l'astrophysique [astro-ph.IM]; Instrumentation et méthodes pour l'astrophysique [astro-ph.IM]

P. Charlot, G. Bourda, A. Collioud, R. Porcas, S. Garrington. Linking the ICRF and the Future Gaia Optical Frame. -, 2009, Socorro, United States. pp.19. ⟨hal-00991542⟩