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Comparison of pulsar positions from timing and very long baseline astrometry

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posted on 2024-08-06, 10:56 authored by J. B. Wang, W. A. Coles, G. Hobbs, Ryan ShannonRyan Shannon, R. N. Manchester, M. Kerr, J. P. Yuan, N. Wang, Matthew BailesMatthew Bailes, N. D. R. Bhat, S. Dai, J. Dempsey, M. J. Keith, P. D. Lasky, Y. Levin, Stefan Oslowski, V. Ravi, Daniel ReardonDaniel Reardon, P. A. Rosado, C. J. Russell, R. Spiewak, Willem van Straten, L. Toomey, L. Wen, X.-P. You, X.-J. Zhu
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 distant quasars. Here, we compare pulsar positions from published VLBI measurements with those obtained from pulsar timing data from the Nanshan and Parkes radio telescopes in order to relate the two reference frames. We find that the timing positions differ significantly from the VLBI positions (and also differ between different ephemerides). A statistically significant change in the obliquity of the ecliptic of 2.16 +/- 0.33 mas is found for the JPL ephemeris DE405, but no significant rotation is found in subsequent JPL ephemerides. The accuracy with which we can relate the two frames is limited by the current uncertainties in the VLBI reference source positions and in matching the pulsars to their reference source. Not only do the timing positions depend on the ephemeris used in computing them, but also different segments of the timing data lead to varying position estimates. These variations are mostly common to all ephemerides, but slight changes are seen at the 10 mu as level between ephemerides.

Funding

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Australian Research Council

Chinese Academy of Sciences

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Science and Technology Facilities Council

History

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PDF (Published version)

ISSN

1365-2966

Journal title

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume

469

Issue

1

Pagination

9 pp

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Copyright statement

This article has been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2017 the authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Language

eng

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