Related papers: Improving Distances to Binary Millisecond Pulsars …
Most binaries are undetected. Astrometric reductions of a system using the assumption that the object moves like a single point mass can be biased by unresolved binary stars. The discrepancy between the centre of mass of the system (which…
We discuss a multimessenger strategy to detect radio pulses from Galactic binary neutron stars in a very tight orbit with the period shorter than 10 min. On one hand, all-sky surveys by radio instruments are inefficient for detecting faint…
Gravitational-wave astronomy allows us to study objects and events invisible to electromagnetic waves. So far, only signals triggered by coalescing binaries have been detected. However, as the interferometers' sensitivities improve over…
We present results from the high precision timing analysis of the pulsar-white dwarf (WD) binary PSR J1012+5307 using 15 years of multi-telescope data. Observations were performed regularly by the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA)…
Pulsar-timing arrays (PTAs) are seeking gravitational waves from supermassive-black-hole binaries, and there are prospects to complement these searches with stellar-astrometry measurements. Theorists still disagree, however, as to whether…
Near-future data from ESA's Gaia mission will provide precise, full phase-space information for hundreds of millions of stars out to heliocentric distances of ~10 kpc. This "horizon" for full phase-space measurements is imposed by the Gaia…
Hidden within the Gaia satellite's multiple data releases lies a valuable cache of dark companions. To facilitate the efficient and reliable detection of these companions via combined analyses involving Gaia, Hipparcos, and Tycho-2…
Pulsars with compact companions in close eccentric orbits are unique laboratories for testing general relativity and alternative theories of gravity. Moreover, they are excellent targets for future gravitational wave experiments like LISA…
Gaia Data Release 2 (Gaia DR2) contains results for 1693 million sources in the magnitude range 3 to 21 based on observations collected by the European Space Agency Gaia satellite during the first 22 months of its operational phase. We…
Gravitational waves are a radically new way to peer into the darkest depths of the cosmos. Pulsars can be used to make direct detections of gravitational waves through precision timing. When a gravitational wave passes between a pulsar and…
The precision of the parallax measurements by Gaia is unprecedented. As of Gaia Data Release 2, the number of known nearby open clusters has increased. Some of the clusters appear to be relatively close to each other and form aggregates,…
We report on 12 years of observations of PSR J1713+0747, a pulsar in a 68-day orbit with a white dwarf. Pulse times of arrival were measured with uncertainties as small as 200 ns. The timing data yielded measurements of the relativistic…
Neutron stars are identified as pulsars, X-ray binary components, central objects of supernovae remnants, or isolated thermally emitting sources, and at distances beyond 120 pc. A population extrapolation suggests 10$^3$ objects within that…
As primary anchors of the distance scale, Cepheid stars play a crucial role in our understanding of the distance scale of the Universe because of their period-luminosity relation. Determining precise and consistent parameters (radius,…
Context. Gravitational microlensing is a method that is used to discover planet-hosting systems at distances of several kiloparsec in the Galactic disk and bulge. We present the analysis of a microlensing event reported by the Gaia…
One of the imminent science goals of pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) is the detection of a continuous gravitational wave (CGW) emitted by an individual supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB). SMBHBs that cause CGWs with GW frequencies…
We present a comparison of Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) parallaxes with photometric parallaxes for a sample of 212 Galactic Cepheids at a median distance of 2~kpc, and explore their implications on the distance scale and the local value of the…
Pulsars are the most stable macroscopic clocks found in nature. Spinning with periods as short as a few milliseconds, their stability can supersede that of the best atomic clocks on Earth over timescales of a few years. Stable clocks are…
The Gaia Galactic survey mission is designed and optimized to obtain astrometry, photometry, and spectroscopy of nearly two billion stars in our Galaxy. Yet as an all-sky multi-epoch survey, Gaia also observes several million extragalactic…
The observation of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) with Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) is one of the goals of gravitational wave astronomy in the coming years. Massive (>10^8 solar masses) and low-redshift (< 1.5) sources are expected to…