VGOS - the VLBI Global Observing System of the IVS
Abstract
The International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) is a service under the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). The IVS objectives include providing the scientific community with a celestial reference frame (CRF), Earth orientation parameters (EOP), and with a terrestrial reference frame (TRF). The VLBI system currently operational was developed and constructed in the late 1960s and has served the science community with excellent results for several decades. However, today this system suffers from a number of technical shortcomings that restrict further accuracy improvements. Thus, during the last several years, the IVS has been developing a design for the next generation VLBI system, commonly known as the VLBI2010 design, with the goal to improve the accuracy of VLBI results by at least one order of magnitude. This design aims at, e.g., allowing continuous measurements of EOP, achieving 1 mm accuracy for station positions and 0.1 mm/a for station velocities, and improving the contribution to the CRF. This VLBI system will be realized in the next few years as the VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS) and replace the legacy system eventually. The key elements of VGOS are small (up to 13 m), fast-slewing (12 deg/s in azimuth, 6 deg/s in elevation) telescopes, equipped with broadband receivers that cover 2-14 GHz continuously, providing data acquisition at rates of 8 Gbps and above. A number of new VGOS telescopes have been constructed already and there are several more approved VGOS projects. Some of these VGOS projects even include twin telescopes. This presentation will explain the current status of VGOS and its future path of development
- Publication:
-
IAU General Assembly
- Pub Date:
- August 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015IAUGA..2257511H