The current IAU conventional models for precession and nutation are referred to the Celestial Ephemeris Pole (CEP). However, the concept corresponding to the CEP is not clear and cannot easily be extended to the most recent models and observations. Its realization is actually dependent both on the model used for precession, nutation and polar motion and on the observational procedure for estimating the Earth orientation parameters. A new definition of the CEP should therefore be given in order to be in agreement with modern models and observations at a microarsecond level. This paper reviews the various realizations of the pole according to the models and observations and discusses the proposals for a modern definition of the CEP that are under consideration within the work of the subgroup T5 entitled “Computational Consequences” of the “ICRS” IAU Working Group.

The definition of the Celestial Ephemeris Pole (CEP) which is the pole of reference for precession and nutation, should be revised taking into account recent advances in observation and theory. This paper reviews the current realization of the CEP and discusses possible extensions of both the conceptual definition and the realization of the CEP. Attention is focused on the corresponding connections between the Earth orientation parameters describing rotational variations and the related excitation parameters expressing dynamics of the geophysical fluids.

We developed a numerical method to incorporate nonrigid effects into a nutation theory of the rigid Earth. Here we assume that the nonrigid effects are based on a linear response theory and its transfer function is expressed as a rational function of frequency. The method replaces the convolution of the transfer function in the frequency domain by the corresponding integro-differential operations in the time domain numerically; namely multiplying the polynomial in the frequency domain by the numerical differentiations in the time domain and multiplying the fractions in the frequency domain by the numerical integrations with a suitable kernel in the time domain. In replacing by the integrations, the method requires the determination of the coefficients of free oscillation. This is done by a least-squares method to fit the theory incorporated with the nonrigid effects to the observational data, whose availability is also assumed. The numerical differentiation and integration are effectively computed by means of the symmetric formulas of differentiation and integration. Numerical tests showed that the method is sufficiently precise to reproduce the analytically convolved nutation at the level of 10 nano arcseconds by using the 9-point central difference formulas and the 8-point symmetric integration formula to cover the period of 15 years with 1.5-hour stepsize. Since we only require the rigid Earth nutation theory to be expressed as a numerical table of time, this method enables one to create a purely numerical theory of nutation of the nonrigid Earth.

A 100-year long optical astrometric series of the Earth Orientation Parameters produced by a Czech team (Vondrák et al., 1998) has been analysed in order to determine components of nutation. Our interest is mostly focused on the long periodic terms: 18.6-year term, 9.3-year term and linear trend, still correlated in VLBI series which cover only the last 20 years. A comparison has been made with the corresponding values determined from the VLBI series.

We present a comparison of the diurnal and subdiurnal nutations of the three last theories of rigid Earth nutation: SMART97, RDAN97 and REN 2000. For a better interpretation of the observations, we characterize their contribution to the polar motion and we estimate the nonrigid effects.

Let a planet perform translational and rotational motions in the field of solar attraction. Let’s assume that the observer on the surface of the planet, knows (even approximately) an orbit and variations of orientation. It is necessary to clarify the motion of the instanteous rotation axis on the planet’s surface from the observer’s point of view on the planet’s surface.

1. The coordinate system, to describe the translational and rotational motions of planets around the Sun we shall take into account the properties of orbits of solar system planets, namely:

1. 1) All planets move in the same direction as the Sun revolves.

2. 2) At the present time, from June until December the Earth’s inhabitants see the north pole of the Sun and during the second half of year the southern one (Beleckei 1975, Menzel 1959).

In the SELenological and ENgineering Explorer (SELENE) project which is the Japanese lunar program to be launched in 2003 by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), we measure angular distance between a radio transmitter on a relay satellite, that on the Moon and quasars by differential VLBI and determine amplitudes of the physical librations, gravitational harmonic coefficients of the Moon and lunar ephemeris with an accuracy one or two orders higher than before in cooperation with 4-way Doppler measurements and two-way Doppler and ranging measurements using the lunar orbiter and the relay satellite. We are proposing another selenodetic mission, In situ Lunar Orientation Measurement (ILOM) to study lunar rotational dynamics by direct observations of the lunar physical libration from the lunar surface with an accuracy of 1 milliarcsecond in a post-SELENE project which will be launched about three years after SELENE. Year-long trajectories of the stars provide information on various components of the physical librations and we will also try to detect the lunar free librations in order to investigate the lunar mantle and the liquid core.