VLBI Astrometric Procedure and Performance with CHIME/FRB Outriggers

@misc{andrew2026vlbi,
  title = {{VLBI Astrometric Procedure and Performance with CHIME/FRB Outriggers}},
  author = {Shion Andrew and Mattias Lazda and Calvin Leung and Kiyoshi W. Masui and Danté M. Hewitt and Jacob Willis and Alyssa Atkinson and Kevin Bandura and Shami Chatterjee and Nina V. Gusinskaia and Adam E. Lanman and Juan Mena-Parra and Kenzie Nimmo and Aaron B. Pearlman and Ziggy Pleunis and Alexander W. Pollak and Gurman Sachdeva and Vishwangi Shah},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.38344},
  eprint = {2609.38344},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.38344},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - VLBI Astrometric Procedure and Performance with CHIME/FRB Outriggers
AU  - Shion Andrew
AU  - Mattias Lazda
AU  - Calvin Leung
AU  - Kiyoshi W. Masui
AU  - Danté M. Hewitt
AU  - Jacob Willis
AU  - Alyssa Atkinson
AU  - Kevin Bandura
AU  - Shami Chatterjee
AU  - Nina V. Gusinskaia
AU  - Adam E. Lanman
AU  - Juan Mena-Parra
AU  - Kenzie Nimmo
AU  - Aaron B. Pearlman
AU  - Ziggy Pleunis
AU  - Alexander W. Pollak
AU  - Gurman Sachdeva
AU  - Vishwangi Shah
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/29
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.38344
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.38344
AB  - Precise localizations of fast radio bursts (FRBs) to specific environments within their host galaxies with very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) have provided valuable insights into the nature of their progenitors. To date, such localizations have relied primarily on traditional VLBI facilities, whose observational capabilities limit them to targeted follow-up on a small subset of repeating FRBs that are observable at frequencies above ∼1 GHz. CHIME/FRB Outriggers is a low-frequency (400--800 MHz), wide-field VLBI network designed to overcome these limitations, aiming to localize a substantial fraction of CHIME-detected FRBs to ∼50 mas precision. In this work, we detail the analysis procedure used to localize FRBs with the CHIME/FRB Outriggers VLBI array. With over a thousand test localizations consisting of continuum calibrators and pulsars with known VLBI positions, we provide a comprehensive demonstration of the VLBI array's ability to robustly meet, and under some conditions exceed, the nominal astrometric specification required for the central science goals of CHIME/FRB Outriggers. By demonstrating that a wide-field survey instrument can deliver routine ∼50 mas astrometry on one-off FRBs, this work lays the foundation for the upcoming generation of wide-field VLBI FRB surveys and the population-scale FRB samples they will enable.
ER  -