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Slade, M. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Slade, M. A..

82 records · Page 5

Arcsecond Positions for Milliarcsecond VLBI Nuclei of Extragalactic Radio Sources, Part 2: 207 Sources

Very long base interferometry measurements of time delay and fringe frequency at 2.29 GHz on baselines of 10,000 km between Deep Space Network stations were used to determine the positions of the milliarcsecond nuclei in 207 extragalactic radio sources. Estimated accuracies generally range from approximately 0.1 to approximately 1.0, in both right ascension and declination, with all sources having uncertainties 4" in both coordinates. The observed sources are part of an all-sky VLBI catalog of milliarcsecond radio sources. Arcsecond positions are now determined for 752 of these sources. Arcsecond positions serve as a useful starting point in the construction of high-precision VLBI reference frames and are also important for unambiguous determination of optical counterparts to compact radio sources.

Morabito, D. D.↗

Arcsecond positions for milliarcsecond VLBI nuclei of extragalactic radio sources. II - 207 sources

Time delay and fringe frequency measurements at 2.29 GHz have been obtained with VLBI on baselines of about 10,000 km, in order to determine the positions of milliarcsec nuclei in 207 extragalactic radio sources. Accuracy ranges are estimated to lie between 0.1 and 1.0 arcsec in both right ascension and declination, with all sources having uncertainties of less than 4 arcsec in both coordinates. These sources constitute part of an all-sky VLBI catalog of milliarcsec radio sources, for 752 of which arcsec positions have thus far been determined.

Morabito, D. D.↗

Radio stars - A possible link between the Hipparcos optical reference frame and an extra-galactic very long baseline interferometry reference frame

The concept of typing the Hipparcos optical and the JPL VLBI frames of reference by means of VLBI measurements of the positions and proper motions of the radio components of some bright stars is considered. The properties of the thermal and non-thermal radio-stars are discussed and 22 candidate stars are selected to achieve this tie. A description is given of the first VLBI attempt to detect these stars on the intercontinental baselines of the Deep Space Network with the Mark II recording system.

Lestrade, J.-F.↗

Establishing a celestial VLBI reference frame. 1: Searching for VLBI sources

The Deep Space Network is currently engaged in establishing a new high-accuracy VLBI celestial reference frame. The present status of the task of finding suitable celestial radio sources for constructing this reference frame is discussed. To date, 564 VLBI sources were detected, with 166 of these lying within 10 deg of the ecliptic plane. The variation of the sky distribution of these sources with source strength is examined.

Preston, R. A.↗

ALSEP-quasar differential VLBI

A program of ALSEP-quasar very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) is being carried out. These observations employ primarily a 'four-antenna' technique whereby simultaneous observations with two antennas at each end of an intercontinental baseline are used to derive the differential interferometric phase between a compact extragalactic radio source (usually a quasar) and a number of ALSEP transmitters on the lunar surface. A continuous ALSEP-quasar differential phase history over a period of a few hours will lead to milliarcsecond angular accuracy in measuring the lunar position against the quasar reference frame if suitable calibration measurements are obtained. Development of this application of the four-antenna technique has been underway for more than a year and is producing high-quality data utilizing Deep Space Network stations. These high-accuracy observations are of value to tie the lunar ephemeris to a nearly inertial extragalactic reference frame, to test gravitational theories, and to measure the earth-moon tidal friction interaction.

Slade, M. A.↗

ALSEP: Quasar differential VLBI

A program of Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP)-Quasar Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) is being reported. These observations primarily employ a 4 antenna technique, whereby simultaneous observations with two antennas at each end of an intercontinental baseline are used to derive the differential interferometric phase between a compact extragalactic radio source (usually a quasar) and a number of ALSEP transmitters on the lunar surface. A continous ALSEP-quasar differential phase history over a few hour period leads to extremely high angular accuracy in measuring the lunar position against the quasar reference frame. This application of the 4 antenna technique has been underway for more than a year and is now producing high quality data utilizing Deep Space Network (DSN) stations in Australia, Spain, and Goldstone, California, as well as the Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN) Apollo station at Goldstone.

Slade, M. A.↗

Lunar physical librations and laser ranging

The analysis of lunar laser ranging data requires very accurate calculations of the lunar physical librations. Libration terms are given which arise from the additive and planetary terms in the lunar theory. The large size of the recently discovered terms due to third degree gravitational harmonics will allow some of these harmonics to be measured by laser ranging to the moon. Numerical integration promises to be an effective method of calculating librations. Comparison of numerical integrations with analytic series indicates that the calculation of the series due to third and fourth degree harmonics is not yet as accurate as the more extensively developed second degree terms.-

Williams, J. G.↗

Lunar topography - Global determination by radar.

Previous methods used for two-dimensional radar mapping of the moon are contrasted with new techniques that add altitude information to the radar map. Delay-Doppler stereoscopy and delay-Doppler interferometry are shown to provide surface-height variations with higher accuracy and better global fidelity than has been possible previously. Sample results are presented for altitude contours on the moon as obtained with the Haystack and Westford radar systems of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An appendix describes the mathematical principles of delay-Doppler interferometry in determining the position of an arbitrary reflecting region of the lunar surface from measurements of the time delay, Doppler shift, and fringe phase of radar echoes from that region.

Shapiro, I. I.↗