Carlsberg optical astrometry of the outer solar system

Abstract

The Carlsberg astrometric telescope has made about 17000 observations of outer Solar System objects since it began operation in 1984. The observed positions of the major planets are compared with JPL DE200 and DE403. The agreement with DE403 is good in general, but unresolved discrepancies of the order 0″.1 are found in Jupiter and Saturn. The run-off between the observations and DE200 which was fitted to observations before 1980 emphasize the need to continue optical observations of the outer planets.