Chandra Proper Motions and Milliarcsecond Astrometry of Nineteen Pulsars
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866911459851632640 |
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| author | Dinsmore, Jack T. Romani, Roger W. |
| author_facet | Dinsmore, Jack T. Romani, Roger W. |
| contents | We present X-ray proper motion (PM) measurements of 19 pulsars using new and archival data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, including pulsar wind trails and X-ray filaments. Precise X-ray PMs are often limited by uncertainties in aligning observations to a common reference frame. Our analysis uses unresolved X-ray flux from stars in the Gaia catalog in addition to X-ray bright point sources for alignment, improving uncertainties. We obtain absolute positions referenced to Gaia with typical astrometric precision $\sim$10 mas and PM statistical uncertainties down to 1.3 mas yr$^{-1}$, the most precise X-ray PM achieved to date. With our improved frame alignment, PM accuracies are now limited by the pulsar flux in most cases. These results reveal a new X-ray filament and illuminate the wind nebula structures and origins of several of these pulsars. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_18436 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Chandra Proper Motions and Milliarcsecond Astrometry of Nineteen Pulsars Dinsmore, Jack T. Romani, Roger W. High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena We present X-ray proper motion (PM) measurements of 19 pulsars using new and archival data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, including pulsar wind trails and X-ray filaments. Precise X-ray PMs are often limited by uncertainties in aligning observations to a common reference frame. Our analysis uses unresolved X-ray flux from stars in the Gaia catalog in addition to X-ray bright point sources for alignment, improving uncertainties. We obtain absolute positions referenced to Gaia with typical astrometric precision $\sim$10 mas and PM statistical uncertainties down to 1.3 mas yr$^{-1}$, the most precise X-ray PM achieved to date. With our improved frame alignment, PM accuracies are now limited by the pulsar flux in most cases. These results reveal a new X-ray filament and illuminate the wind nebula structures and origins of several of these pulsars. |
| title | Chandra Proper Motions and Milliarcsecond Astrometry of Nineteen Pulsars |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.18436 |