Related papers: Pulsar Astrometry at the Microarcsecond Level
We present the results of PSR$\pi$, a large astrometric project targeting radio pulsars using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). From our astrometric database of 60 pulsars, we have obtained parallax-based distance measurements for all…
Many features of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) contrive to make it the best telescope for pulsar astrometry. The measured proper motions and parallaxes allow distances and transverse velocities to be determined. These in turn provide…
Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) provides the resolution needed to make precision measurements of a pulsar's parallax and proper motion. In making these measurements, the astronomer is faced with difficult calibration problems and a…
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…
Astrometry can bring powerful constraints to bear on a variety of scientific questions about neutron stars, including their origins, astrophysics, evolution, and environments. Using phase-referenced observations at the VLBA, in conjunction…
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…
With unparalleled rotational stability, millisecond pulsars (MSPs) serve as ideal laboratories for numerous astrophysical studies, many of which require precise knowledge of the distance and/or velocity of the MSP. Here, we present the…
Accurate measurement of pulsar distances via astrometry using very long baseline interferometry enables the improvement of Galactic electron density distribution models, improving distance estimates for the vast majority of pulsars for…
We present astrometric results on two millisecond pulsars, PSR B1257+12 and PSR J1022+1001, as carried out through VLBI. For PSR B1257+12, a model-independent distance of $710_{\rm -38}^{\rm +43}$ pc and proper motion of ($\mu_{\rm…
We present the first pulsar parallaxes measured with phase-referenced pulsar VLBI observations at 5 GHz. Due to the steep spectra of pulsars, previous astrometric measurements have been at lower frequencies. However, the strongest pulsars…
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…
We determined the distances to nine pulsars by parallax measurements using the NRAO Very Long Baseline Array, doubling the number of pulsars with accurate distance measurements. Broadband phase modeling was used to calibrate the varying…
We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to…
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…
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…
The Vela pulsar is the brightest pulsar at radio wavelengths. It was the object that told us (via its glitching) that pulsars were solid rotating bodies not oscillating ones. Along with the Crab pulsar is it the source of many of the models…
Model-independent distance constraints to binary millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are of great value to both the timing observations of the radio pulsars, and multiwavelength observations of their companion stars. Very Long Baseline…
Using the Very Long Baseline Array, we have made astrometric observations of the binary pulsar B1913+16 spanning an 18 month period in 2014 - 2015. From these observations we make the first determination of the annual geometric parallax of…
We present Very Long Baseline Array phase-referenced measurements of the parallax and proper motion of two pulsars, B0919+06 and B1857-26. Sub-milliarcsecond positional accuracy was obtained by simultaneously observing a weak calibrator…
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…