The (f)utility of ground-based parallaxes

Abstract

During the 25 years that the author has been involved in astrometry, the quality of ground-based parallaxes has increased by about a factor of 10 (from 3 mas to 0.3 mas), but the quantity has increased by only a few hundred. When asked, the average astronomer will cite the $H^2$ space missions (Hubble and Hipparcos) as the great advances in astrometry even thought the ground-based work has played a critical role in the understanding classes of stars such as the L- and T-dwarfs. The next decade promises stunning advances in both the quality and quantity of parallax measurements, and both ground- and space-based projects will play significant roles. The Gaia space mission and the various ground-based telescopes with large etendue (DMT, LSST, Pan-STARRS, etc.) will improve the quality or quantity (or both) by factors of a thousand or more. The situation will be discussed, and the author will express his hope that he might live long enough to see the fruits of these labors.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html