Una perspectiva històrica de l'astrometria: com mesurem la distància respecte a les estrelles?

By Xavier Luri, PhD in Physics from the University of Barcelona, where he works as a professor in the Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics, and as a researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB). Astrometry is the branch of astronomy responsible for studying the position and movement of celestial bodies. It is a very old discipline; in fact, for many centuries, astronomy as a science was essentially astrometry: astronomers' work focused on measuring the positions of celestial bodies. The main tool they had was astronomical catalogs, collections of positions and magnitudes of stars and planets. The oldest catalogs date back to Mesopotamian culture. Throughout history, many civilizations have contributed to completing and refining these data collections, to the point of reaching the technological limits of each period (the predecessors of massive data or big data). At the beginning of the 20th century, it was believed that the limit of knowledge had been reached, and therefore astrometry seemed a closed discipline. However, access to space and in particular the Hipparcos and Gaia missions of the European Space Agency revived astrometry and revolutionized astronomy. Organizer: Astrobanyoles, Museu Darder, Banyoles Town Council. With the support of: Girona Provincial Council, Generalitat de Catalunya. Department of Culture