Overview and Status of the International Celestial Reference Frame as Realized by VLBI

Abstract

Accurate measurement of angular positions on the sky requires a well-defined system of reference that is realized with accessible objects. The purpose of this study is to review the international standard realization of such a system, the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). The ICRF uses the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique as it has the highest resolution of any current astrometric technique for reference frames in order to observe Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) which are at such great distances (typical redshift ∼1) that there is currently no observed parallax or proper motion of these objects thus giving the frame excellent stability. We briefly review the history of the transition from the Fundamental Katalog 5 (FK5) optical frame to VLBI-based frames with attention to each of the three generations: ICRF-1, ICRF-2, and ICRF-3. We present some of the more prominent applications of the ICRF and outline the methods used to construct the ICRF. Next we discuss in more detail the current standard ICRF-3—which is the first frame to be realized at multiple wavelengths (S/X, K, X/Ka-bands)—including an estimate of its accuracy and limiting errors. We conclude with an overview of future plans for improving the ICRF.