Related papers: Microarcsecond VLBI pulsar astrometry with PSR$\pi…

Using the recently upgraded Long Baseline Array, we have measured the trigonometric parallax of PSR J0437-4715 to better than 1% precision, the most precise pulsar distance determination made to date. Comparing this VLBI distance…

We use four observations with the European VLBI network to measure the first precise radio parallax of the Crab Pulsar. We found two in-beam extragalactic sources just outside the Crab Nebula, with one bright enough to use as a background…

The following results of dissertation are submitted for defense: 1. Precise measurements of coordinates and proper motion of the pulsar PSR 0329+54 using the VLBI method. 2. Establishing of the reason for the discrepancy between the…

The existence of neutron stars was not confirmed until the discovery of pulsars at radio wavelengths in late 1960s. Since then, these highly compact and magnetized objects have been observed across the electromagnetic spectrum, and widely…

Using the Very Large Array, we have measured the proper motions of twenty-eight radio pulsars. On average, the pulsars studied are fainter and more distant than those studied in earlier work, reducing the selection biases inherent in…

The importance of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) for pulsar research is becoming increasingly prominent and receiving more and more attention. In this paper, we present pathfinding pulsar observation results with the Chinese VLBI…

Astrometry at centimeter wavelengths using Very Long Baseline Interferometry is approaching accuracies of ~1 uas for the angle between a target and a calibrator source separated by <1 degree on the sky. The BeSSeL Survey and the Japanese…

Precise millisecond pulsar (MSP) positions determined with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) hold the key to building the connection between the kinematic and dynamic reference frames respectively used by VLBI and pulsar timing. The…

(Abridged) This thesis describes the development of DiFX, the first general-purpose software correlator for radio interferometry, and its use with the Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA) to complete the largest VLBI pulsar astrometry…

We use VLBI imaging of the interstellar scattering speckle pattern associated with the pulsar PSR 0834+06 to measure the astrometric motion of its emission. The ~ 5AU interstellar baselines, provided by interference between speckles…

PSR J1012+5307, a millisecond pulsar in orbit with a helium white dwarf (WD), has been timed with high precision for about 25 years. One of the main objectives of this long-term timing is to use the large asymmetry in gravitational binding…

The pulsar velocity distribution provides information about the binary history of pulsar progenitors as well as asymmetries of the supernova events in which pulsars are born. Studies of local pulsars present a biased view of this…

We present a series of sixteen Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) high angular resolution observations of a cluster of suspected low-mass young stars in the Monoceros R2 region. Four compact and highly variable radio sources are detected;…

Accurate pulsar astrometric estimates play an essential role in almost all high-precision pulsar timing experiments. Traditional pulsar timing techniques refine these estimates by including them as free parameters when fitting a model to…

Pulsar positions can be measured with high precision using both pulsar timing methods and very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). Pulsar timing positions are referenced to a solar-system ephemeris, whereas VLBI positions are referenced to…

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations can provide the position of compact radio sources with an accuracy of order 50 micro-arcseconds. This is sufficient to measure the trigonometric parallax and proper motions of any object…

Using the nine-year radio-pulsar timing data set from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), collected at Arecibo Observatory and the Green Bank Telescope, we have measured the positions, proper…

Accurate distances to pulsars can be used for a variety of studies of the Galaxy and its electron content. However, most distance measures to pulsars have been derived from the absorption (or lack thereof) of pulsar emission by Galactic HI…

Precision astrometry is an integral component of successful pulsar timing campaigns. Astrometric parameters are commonly derived by fitting them as parameters of a timing model to a series of pulse times of arrival (TOAs). TOAs measured to…

Recently, GRAVITY onboard the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) first spatially resolved the structure of the quasar 3C 273 with an unprecedented resolution of $\sim 10\mu$as. A new method of measuring parallax distances has been…