The Hipparcos satellite, developed and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1989, was the first space mission dedicated to astrometry – the accurate measurement of positions, distances, and proper motions of stars. Amongst the key achievements of its measurements are refining the cosmic distance scale, characterizing the large-scale kinematic motions in the Solar neighborhood, providing precise luminosities for stellar modelling, and confirming Einstein’s prediction of the effect of gravity on starlight. This authoritative account of the Hipparcos contributions over the last decade is an outstanding reference for astronomers, astrophysicists and cosmologists. It reviews the applications of the data in different areas, describing the subject and the state of the art before Hipparcos, and summarizing all major contributions to the topic made by Hipparcos. It contains a detailed overview of the Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues, their annexes and their updates. Each chapter ends with comprehensive references to relevant literature.

Author

Michael Perryman, University of Bristol

Table of Contents

1. The Hipparcos and Tycho catalogues
2. Derived catalogues and applications
3. Double and multiple stars
4. Photometry and variability
5. Luminosity calibration and distance scale
6. Open clusters, groups and associations
7. Stellar structure and evolution
8. Specific stellar types and the ISM
9. Structure of the Galaxy
10. Solar System and exo-planets
Index.