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"Fundamental Astronomy and Solar System Dynamics", a program of invited papers honoring Professor Walter Fricke, who for thirty years has been Director of the Astronomisches Rechen lnstitut in Heidelberg, was held at the Thompson Conference Center of the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday 27 March 1985 on the occasion of his seventieth birthday and retirement as Director of ARl. Professor Fricke's contributions to astronomy encompass the areas of galactic dynamics, radial velocities, stellar statistics. the fundamental reference system and the constant of precession. Participants were welcomed to the Uni versi ty of Texas by Professor J. Parker Lamb, Chairman of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. The presentations ranged from discussions of astrometric problems concerned with the reference system, the constant of precession, major and minor planet observations, planetary ephemerides and lunar and satellite laser ranging, to a study of disc galaxies in massive halos. The program concluded with a review of Professor Fricke's career. The three sessions were chaired by Victor G. Szebehely, Carol A. Williams and Jay H. Lieske. The participants in this meeting, and in the Division on Dynamical Astronomy meeting that followed, were happy that Professor Fricke was able to attend. His presence at these meetings, as well as his thoughtful comments, were greatly appreciated. We are pleased to acknowledge the support of the Center for Space Research, the Department of Astronomy and the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics of the University of Texas at Austin.
List of contents
Fundamental Reference Systems: Past, Present and Future.- The Evolution of Adopted Values for Precessing.- On the Orientation of Ephemeris Reference Frames.- Fundamental Coordinate Ties Using Laser Ranging Data.- Satellite Laser Ranging and its Application.- Problems in Data Compilation.- The Southern Reference Star Program: A 20-Year International Project Nearing Completion.- The Extension of the Fundamental System to Fainter Magnitudes.- Prospects for Astrometry with the Hubble Space Telescope.- Recent Investigations on Disk Galaxies in Massive Halos.- A Review of Astrometric Observing.- Precise Position Measurements of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus Systems with the Very Large Array.- Coordination of Minor Planet Orbital Studies: Past, Present and Future.- Fricke's Influence on the World of Astronomy.
About the author
P. Kenneth Seidelmann worked in the Nautical Almanac and Orbital Mechanics Departments of the U. S. Naval Observatory for 35 years, reaching the level of Director of Astrometry at USNO. He has been involved in the ephemerides developments, relativistic developments of dynamical time scales, and the applications of improved accuracies of time scales and astrometry. He is currently a Research Professor at the University of Virginia. He is editor of the 'Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac', coauthor of 'Fundamentals of Astrometry', and author of a large number of papers on astronomy.
Report
`The book is one of the best published so far on the fundamental subjects of astronomy and space research being of basic importance to anyone who needs tolocate his data properly in space and time.'
Space Science Reviews, Vol. 45, 1987.
