VLBI astrometry of radio stars to link radio and optical celestial reference frames – II. 11 radio stars

ABSTRACT The alignment between the radio-based International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) and the optical Gaia Celestial Reference Frame (Gaia–CRF) is critical for multi-waveband astronomy, yet systematic offsets at the optical bright end ($G \lesssim 13$) limit their consistency. While radio stars offer a potential link between these frames, their utility has been restricted by the scarcity of precise Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) astrometry. In this study, we present new VLBI astrometry of 11 radio stars using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), expanding the existing sample with positions, parallaxes, and proper motions measured. All 11 radio stars were detected, for 10 of which parallaxes and proper motions can be estimated, achieving median uncertainties better than 0.1 mas and 0.1 mas yr$^{-1}$, respectively. These new samples greatly contribute to the link between ICRF and Gaia-CRF at the optical bright end.

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Publication Details

Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2026-02-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag244
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

VLBI astrometry of radio stars to link radio and optical celestial reference frames – II. 11 radio stars

Yan Sun, Xiaofeng Mai, Pengfei Jiang, M. J. Reid et al.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
article

VLBI astrometry of radio stars to link radio and optical celestial reference frames – II. 11 radio stars

Yan Sun, Xiaofeng Mai, Pengfei Jiang, M. J. Reid, Lang Cui, Bo Zhang, Shuangjing Xu, Fengchun Shu, Zhaoxiang Qi, Jinling Li, Jingdong Zhang, Wen Chen, Xingwu Zheng
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The alignment between the radio-based International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) and the optical Gaia Celestial Reference Frame (Gaia–CRF) is critical for multi-waveband astronomy, yet systematic offsets at the optical bright end ($G \lesssim 13$) limit their consistency. While radio stars offer a potential link between these frames, their utility has been restricted by the scarcity of precise Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) astrometry. In this study, we present new VLBI astrometry of 11 radio stars using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), expanding the existing sample with positions, parallaxes, and proper motions measured. All 11 radio stars were detected, for 10 of which parallaxes and proper motions can be estimated, achieving median uncertainties better than 0.1 mas and 0.1 mas yr$^{-1}$, respectively. These new samples greatly contribute to the link between ICRF and Gaia-CRF at the optical bright end.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 547(2)
Yunnan University (CN), Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (CN), Helsinki Institute of Physics (FI), Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KR), Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (CN), Yunnan Observatories (CN), Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FI), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), Astronomy and Space (AU), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 98%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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