Light propagation in the gravitational field of N arbitrarily moving bodies in 1PN approximation for high-precision astrometry

Abstract

The light-trajectory in the gravitational field of N extended bodies in arbitrary motion is determined in the first post-Newtonian approximation. According to the theory of reference systems, the gravitational fields of these massive bodies are expressed in terms of their intrinsic multipoles, allowing for arbitrary shape and inner structure of these bodies. The results of this investigation aim towards a consistent general-relativistic theory of light propagation in the Solar system for high-precision astrometry at sub-micro-arcsecond level of accuracy.