On the orientation of ephemeris reference frames

Abstract

Precession corrections, equinox motions and locations, and obliquities for the FK4 are determined from laser-ranging data only by the ephemeris-fitting method of Standish (1982) and compared with those calculated by Fricke (1971 and 1982) from optical observations. The theoretical basis of the comparison is explained, and the results are presented in a table. No significant differences are found in the equinox offset and equinox motion values, and good agreement is found in the equinox location. The ephemeris-fitting obliquity values are shown to be consistent to within 10 marcsec and to be about 20 marcsec lower than the optical values.