The Gaia Astrometric Catalogue and Secular Aberration Drift in Proper Motions

Abstract: A paper demonstrated the existence of a secular aberration drift term in stellar proper motions that arises when transforming an astrometric catalogue defined for an observer at rest with respect to the solar system barycentre to some other reference frame in which, for example, the observer is at rest with respect to the Galactic centre. Such a transformation requires an accurate and precise estimate of the velocity of the solar system barycentre. It was argued that the Gaia catalogue construction should account for this effect and also for the aberrational effect due to acceleration of the solar system barycentre. We argue that these two effects should not be accounted for in the construction of the Gaia astrometric catalogue. We briefly review the Gaia catalogue reference frame, the concepts of stellar aberration and secular aberration drift, and their observable consequences. The Gaia catalogue is (and should be) constructed in the Barycentric Celestial Reference System: the reference system with the origin at the solar system barycentre as defined by the underlying solar system ephemerides. We explain that the Gaia catalogue is consistent with the International Celestial Reference System despite the presence of proper motion terms due to the acceleration of the solar system barycentre. We also explain why transformation of the astrometry to a frame in which the observer is at rest with respect to the Galactic centre or distant universe is not needed for the interpretation of stellar kinematics, and that there are practical concerns with such a transformation. The estimation of the velocity and acceleration of the solar system barycentre, although important as a matter of scientific investigation, are not needed for the construction of the Gaia astrometric catalogue.