The similarities between linearized gravity and electromagnetism are known
since the early days of General Relativity. Using an exact approach based on
tidal tensors, we show that such analogy holds only on very special conditions
and depends crucially on the reference frame. This places restrictions on the
validity of the "gravito-electromagnetic" equations commonly found in the
literature.Comment: 9 Pages, 1 figure. To appear in the Proceedings of the IAU Symposium
261 "Relativity in Fundamental Astronomy: Dynamics, Reference Frames, and
Data Analysis", Virginia Beach, USA, 27 April - 1 May 200