Rights and wrongs of the Hipparcos data: A critical assessment of the Hipaprcos catalogue

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0505431

From: Floor van Leeuwen [view email]

Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 09:03:32 GMT   (402kb)

A critical assessment of the quality of the Hipparcos data, partly supported
by a completely new analysis of the raw data, is presented with the aim of
clarifying reliability issues that have surfaced since the publication of the
Hipparcos catalogue in 1997. A number of defects in the data are identified,
such as scan-phase discontinuities and effects of external hits. These defects
can be repaired when re-reducing the raw data. Instabilities in the
great-circle reduction process are recognised and identified in a number of
data sets. These resulted mainly from the difficult observing conditions
imposed by the anomalous orbit of the satellite. The stability of the basic
angle over the mission is confirmed, but the connectivity between the two
fields of view has been less than optimal for some parts of the sky. Both are
fundamental conditions for producing absolute parallaxes. Although there is
clear room for improvement of the Hipparcos data, the catalogue as published
remains generally reliable within the quoted accuracies. Some of the findings
presented here are also relevant for the forthcoming Gaia mission.

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SLAC-SPIRES HEP (refers to ,
cited by, arXiv reformatted)

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