Gravitational bending of light by planetary multipoles

Abstract

General relativistic deflection of light by mass, dipole, and quadrupole moments of gravitational field of a moving massive planet in the Solar system is derived in the approximation of the linearized Einstein equations. All terms of order 1 microarcsecond are taken into account, parametrized, and classified in accordance with their physical origin. We discuss the observational capabilities of the near-future optical and radio interferometers for detecting the Doppler modulation of the radial deflection, and the dipolar and quadrupolar light-ray bendings by Jupiter and the Saturn.

4 pages, contributed talk submitted to the proceedings of the IAU 248 Symp. "A Giant Step: from Milli- to Micro-arcsecond Astrometry" (Shanghai, October 2007)