NASA NTRS · 20120000632
The Celestial Reference Frame at X/Ka-band (8.4/32 GHz)
Abstract
A celestial reference frame at X/Ka-band (8.4/32 GHz) has been constructed using fifty-one 24-hour sessions with the Deep Space Network. We report on observations which have detected 436 sources covering the full 24 hours of right ascension and declinations down to -45 deg. Comparison of this X/Ka-band frame to the S/X-band (2.3/8.4 GHz) ICRF2 shows wRMS agreement of 200 micro-arcsec in a cos delta and 290 micro-arcsec in delta. There is evidence for zonal errors at the 100 micro-arcsec level. Known errors include limited SNR, lack of phase calibration, troposphere mismodelling, and limited southern geometry. The motivations for extending the ICRF to frequencies above 8 GHz are to access more compact source morphology for improved frame stability, to provide calibrators for phase referencing, and to support spacecraft navigation at Ka-band.
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Jacobs, C. S., Clark, J. E., Heflin, M. B., Skjerve, L. J., Sovers, O. J., Garcia-Miro, C., Moll, V. E., Horiuchi, S.. 2011-03-06. The Celestial Reference Frame at X/Ka-band (8.4/32 GHz). https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20120000632
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