Donald C. Backer

The Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization: 8 Station Results (2009)

Parsons, Aaron R., Backer, Donald C., Bradley, Richard F., Aguirre, James E., Benoit, Erin E., Carilli, Chris L., ...

We are developing the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) to detect 21cm emission from the early Universe, when the first stars and galaxies were forming. We describe the...

Calibration of Low-Frequency, Wide-Field Radio Interferometers Using Delay/Delay-Rate Filtering (2009)

Parsons, Aaron R., Backer, Donald C.

We present a filtering technique that can be applied to individual baselines of wide-bandwidth, wide-field interferometric data to geometrically select regions on the celestial sphere that contain...

Gravitational science with pulsars and the Square Kilometre Array (2009)

Stairs, Ingrid H., Kramer, M., Backer, Donald C., Bailes, M., Cordesk, J. M., Johnston, S., ...

Pulsar observations form one of the Key Science Projects for the Square Kilometre Array. These will allow unique tests of General Relativity based on finding and timing pulsars in relativistic...

Gravitational science with pulsars and the Square Kilometre Array (2009)

Stairs, Ingrid H., Kramer, M., Backer, Donald C., Bailes, M., Cordesk, J. M., Johnston, S., ...

Pulsar observations form one of the Key Science Projects for the Square Kilometre Array. These will allow unique tests of General Relativity based on finding and timing pulsars in relativistic...

An eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the galactic plane (2008)

Champion, David J., Ransom, Scott M., Lazarus, Patrick, Camilo, Fernando, Bassa, Cees, Kaspi, Victoria M., ...

Binary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar...

An eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the galactic plane (2008)

Champion, David J., Ransom, Scott M., Lazarus, Patrick, Camilo, Fernando, Bassa, Cees, Kaspi, Victoria M., ...

Binary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar...

An eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the galactic plane (2008)

Champion, David J., Ransom, Scott M., Lazarus, Patrick, Camilo, Fernando, Bassa, Cees, Kaspi, Victoria M., ...

Binary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar...

An eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the galactic plane (2008)

Champion, David J., Ransom, Scott M., Lazarus, Patrick, Camilo, Fernando, Bassa, Cees, Kaspi, Victoria M., ...

Binary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar...

The discovery of an eccentric millisecond pulsar in the galactic plane (2008)

Champion, David J., Ransom, Scott M., Lazarus, Patrick, Camilo, Fernando, Kaspi, Victoria M., Nice, David J., ...

The evolution of binary systems is governed by their orbital properties and the stellar density of the local environment. Studies of neutron stars in binary star systems offer unique insights into...

An eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the galactic plane (2008)

Champion, David J., Ransom, Scott M., Lazarus, Patrick, Camilo, Fernando, Bassa, Cees, Kaspi, Victoria M., ...

Binary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar...

The discovery of an eccentric millisecond pulsar in the galactic plane (2008)

Champion, David J., Ransom, Scott M., Lazarus, Patrick, Camilo, Fernando, Kaspi, Victoria M., Nice, David J., ...

The evolution of binary systems is governed by their orbital properties and the stellar density of the local environment. Studies of neutron stars in binary star systems offer unique insights into...

The Linear Polarization of Sagittarius A* II. VLA and BIMA Polarimetry at 22, 43 and 86 GHz (2007)

Geoffrey Bower Melvyn, Geoffrey C. Bower, Donald C. Backer, Heino Falcke

We present a search for linear polarization at 22 GHz, 43 GHz and 86 GHz from the nearest super massive black hole candidate, Sagittarius A*. We find upper limits to the linear polarization of 0.2%,...

BIMA Memo 52 3 mm VLBI at Hat Creek 1995 - 1997 (2007)

Geoffrey Bower Donald, Donald C. Backer, Dick Plambeck, Melvyn Wright

This memo describes the current approach for using the Hat Creek array as an element in a VLBI array. Theoretical and practical questions are addressed. The principal elements of a VLBI station are...

Detection of Circular Polarization in the Galactic Center Black Hole Candidate Sagittarius A* (2007)

Geoffrey Bower Heino, Geoffrey C. Bower, Heino Falcke, Donald C. Backer

We report here the detection of circular polarization in the Galactic Center black hole candidate, Sagittarius A*. The detection was made at 4.8 GHz and 8.4 GHz with the Very Large Array. We find...

Much Ado About Nothing: Several Large-Area Surveys for Radio Pulsars from Arecibo (2007)

Paul S. Ray, S. R. Kulkarni, Thomas A. Prince, S. E. Thorsett, Gautam Vasisht, ...

We report surveyed regions and flux limits for several large-area surveys at 430 MHz for radio pulsars using the 305-m reflector at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The surveys used integration times between 8...

The Linear Polarization of Sagittarius A* II. VLA and BIMA Polarimetry at 22, 43 and 86 GHz (2007)

Geoffrey Bower, Donald C. Backer, Heino Falcke

We present a search for linear polarization at 22 GHz, 43 GHz and 86 GHz from the nearest super massive black hole candidate, Sagittarius A*. We find upper limits to the linear polarization of 0.2%,...

Detection of Circular Polarization in the Galactic Center Black Hole Candidate Sagittarius A* (2007)

Geoffrey C. Bower, Heino Falcke, Donald C. Backer

We report here the detection of circular polarization in the Galactic Center black hole candidate, Sagittarius A*. The detection was made at 4.8 GHz and 8.4 GHz with the Very Large Array. We find...

The Linear Polarization of Sagittarius A* I. VLA Spectro-polarimetry at 4.8 and 8.4 GHz (2007)

Geoffrey C. Bower, Donald C. Backer, Jun-hui Zhao, Miller Goss, Heino Falcke

Synchrotron radiation from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is often highly polarized. We present a search for linear polarization with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 4.8 GHz and 8.4 GHz from the nearest...

The Linear Polarization of Sagittarius A* I. VLA Spectro-polarimetry at 4.8 and 8.4 GHz (2007)

Geoffrey C. Bower, Donald C. Backer, Jun-hui Zhao, Miller Goss, Heino Falcke

Synchrotron radiation from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is often highly polarized. We present a search for linear polarization with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 4.8 GHz and 8.4 GHz from the nearest...

and (2007)

Paul S. Ray, S. R. Kulkarni, Thomas A. Prince, S. E. Thorsett, Gautam Vasisht, ...

We report surveyed regions and flux limits for several large-area surveys at 430 MHz for radio pulsars using the 305-m reflector at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The surveys used integration times between 8...

Interferometric Detection of Linear Polarization from Sagittarius A* at 230 GHz (2007)

A At Ghz, Geoffrey C. Bower, Heino Falcke, Donald C. Backer

We measured the linear polarization of Sagittarius A* to be 7:20:6% at 230 GHz using the BIMA array with a resolution of 3:60:9 arcsec. This con rms the previously reported detection with the JCMT...

The Intrinsic Size of Sagittarius A* from 0.35 cm to 6 cm (2006)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Goss, W. M., Falcke, Heino, Backer, Donald C., Lithwick, Yoram

We present new high-resolution observations of Sagittarius A* at wavelengths of 17.4 to 23.8 cm with the Very Large Array in A configuration with the Pie Town Very Long Baseline Array antenna. We use...

The Rotation Measure and 3.5mm Polarization of Sgr A* (2006)

Macquart, Jean-Pierre, Bower, Geoffrey C., Wright, Melvyn C. H., Backer, Donald C., Falcke, Heino

We report the detection of variable linear polarization from Sgr A* at a wavelength of 3.5mm, the longest wavelength yet at which a detection has been made. The mean polarization is 2.1 +/- 0.1% at a...

The Parallax and Proper Motion of PSR J0030+0451 (2006)

Lommen, Andrea N., Kipphorn, Richard A., Nice, David J., Splaver, Eric M., Stairs, Ingrid H., Backer, Donald C.

We report the parallax and proper motion of millisecond pulsar J0030+0451, one of thirteen known isolated millisecond pulsars in the disk of the Galaxy. We obtained more than 6 years of monthly data...

Arecibo and the ALFA pulsar survey (2006)

Van Leeuwen, Joeri, Cordes, James M., Lorimer, Duncan R., Freire, Paulo C., Camilo, Fernando, Stairs, Ingrid H., ...

The recently started Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) pulsar survey aims to find ~1000 new pulsars. Due to its high time and frequency resolution the survey is especially sensitive to millisecond...

Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA I : survey strategy and first discoveries (2006)

Cordes, James M., Freire, Paulo C., Lorimer, Duncan R., Camilo, Fernando, Champion, David J., Nice, David J., ...

We report results from the initial stage of a long-term pulsar survey of the Galactic plane using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), a seven-beam receiver operating at 1.4 GHz with 0.3 GHz...

Arecibo and the ALFA pulsar survey (2006)

Van Leeuwen, Joeri, Cordes, James M., Lorimer, Duncan R., Freire, Paulo C., Camilo, Fernando, Stairs, Ingrid H., ...

The recently started Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) pulsar survey aims to find ~1000 new pulsars. Due to its high time and frequency resolution the survey is especially sensitive to millisecond...

Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA I : survey strategy and first discoveries (2006)

Cordes, James M., Freire, Paulo C., Lorimer, Duncan R., Camilo, Fernando, Champion, David J., Nice, David J., ...

We report results from the initial stage of a long-term pulsar survey of the Galactic plane using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), a seven-beam receiver operating at 1.4 GHz with 0.3 GHz...

Arecibo and the ALFA pulsar survey (2006)

Van Leeuwen, Joeri, Cordes, James M., Lorimer, Duncan R., Freire, Paulo C., Camilo, Fernando, Stairs, Ingrid H., ...

The recently started Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) pulsar survey aims to find ~1000 new pulsars. Due to its high time and frequency resolution the survey is especially sensitive to millisecond...

Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA I : survey strategy and first discoveries (2006)

Cordes, James M., Freire, Paulo C., Lorimer, Duncan R., Camilo, Fernando, Champion, David J., Nice, David J., ...

We report results from the initial stage of a long-term pulsar survey of the Galactic plane using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), a seven-beam receiver operating at 1.4 GHz with 0.3 GHz...

Arecibo and the ALFA pulsar survey (2006)

Van Leeuwen, Joeri, Cordes, James M., Lorimer, Duncan R., Freire, Paulo C., Camilo, Fernando, Stairs, Ingrid H., ...

The recently started Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) pulsar survey aims to find ~1000 new pulsars. Due to its high time and frequency resolution the survey is especially sensitive to millisecond...

Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA I : survey strategy and first discoveries (2006)

Cordes, James M., Freire, Paulo C., Lorimer, Duncan R., Camilo, Fernando, Champion, David J., Nice, David J., ...

We report results from the initial stage of a long-term pulsar survey of the Galactic plane using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), a seven-beam receiver operating at 1.4 GHz with 0.3 GHz...

Arecibo and the ALFA pulsar survey (2006)

Van Leeuwen, Joeri, Cordes, James M., Lorimer, Duncan R., Freire, Paulo C., Camilo, Fernando, Stairs, Ingrid H., ...

The recently started Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) pulsar survey aims to find ~1000 new pulsars. Due to its high time and frequency resolution the survey is especially sensitive to millisecond...

Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA I : survey strategy and first discoveries (2006)

Cordes, James M., Freire, Paulo C., Lorimer, Duncan R., Camilo, Fernando, Champion, David J., Nice, David J., ...

We report results from the initial stage of a long-term pulsar survey of the Galactic plane using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), a seven-beam receiver operating at 1.4 GHz with 0.3 GHz...

Arecibo and the ALFA pulsar survey (2006)

Van Leeuwen, Joeri, Cordes, James M., Lorimer, Duncan R., Freire, Paulo C., Camilo, Fernando, Stairs, Ingrid H., ...

The recently started Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) pulsar survey aims to find ~1000 new pulsars. Due to its high time and frequency resolution the survey is especially sensitive to millisecond...

Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA I : survey strategy and first discoveries (2006)

Cordes, James M., Freire, Paulo C., Lorimer, Duncan R., Camilo, Fernando, Champion, David J., Nice, David J., ...

We report results from the initial stage of a long-term pulsar survey of the Galactic plane using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), a seven-beam receiver operating at 1.4 GHz with 0.3 GHz...

A Radio Transient 0.1 pc from Sagittarius A* (2005)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Roberts, Doug A., Yusef-Zadeh, Farhad, Backer, Donald C., Cotton, W. D., Goss, W. M., ...

We report the discovery of a transient radio source 2.7 arcsec (0.1 pc projected distance) South of the Galactic Center massive black hole, Sagittarius A*. The source flared with a peak of at least...

Variable Linear Polarization from Sagittarius A*: Evidence for a Hot Turbulent Accretion Flow (2004)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Falcke, Heino, Wright, Melvyn C. H., Backer, Donald C.

We report the discovery of variability in the linear polarization from the Galactic Center black hole source, Sagittarius A*. New polarimetry obtained with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association...

Masses, Parallax, and Relativistic Timing of the PSR J1713+0747 Binary System (2004)

Splaver, Eric M., Nice, David J., Stairs, Ingrid H., Lommen, Andrea N., Backer, Donald C.

We report on 12 years of observations of PSR J1713+0747, a pulsar in a 68-day orbit with a white dwarf. Pulse times of arrival were measured with uncertainties as small as 200 ns. The timing data...

A Micro-glitch in the Millisecond Pulsar B1821-24 in M28 (2004)

Cognard, Ismael, Backer, Donald C.

We report on the observation of a very small glitch observed for the first time in a millisecond pulsar, PSR B1821-24 located in the globular cluster M28. Timing observations were mainly conducted...

Orbital Modulation of the Apparent Dispersion Measure Towards PSR J0737-3039A (2004)

Ransom, Scott M., Backer, Donald C., Demorest, Paul, Kaspi, Victoria M., Ramachandran, R., Arons, Jonathan, ...

The paper was withdrawn because the effect is due to the data reduction methodology. See the text file for details.

Detection of the Intrinsic Size of Sagittarius A* through Closure Amplitude Imaging (includes Online Supporting Material) (2004)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Falcke, Heino, Herrnstein, Robeson M., Zhao, Jun-Hui, Goss, W. M., Backer, Donald C.

We have detected the intrinsic size of Sagittarius A*, the Galactic Center radio source associated with a supermassive black hole, showing that the short-wavelength radio emission arises from very...

A 20 cm Search for Pulsars in Globular Clusters with Arecibo and the GBT (2004)

Hessels, Jason W. T., Ransom, Scott M., Stairs, Ingrid H., Kaspi, Victoria M., Freire, Paulo C. C., Backer, Donald C., ...

We are conducting deep searches for radio pulsations at L-band (~ 20cm) towards more than 30 globular clusters using the 305m Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico and the 100m Green Bank Telescope in...

GBT Discovery of Two Binary Millisecond Pulsars in the Globular Cluster M30 (2003)

Ransom, Scott M., Stairs, Ingrid H., Backer, Donald C., Greenhill, Lincoln J., Bassa, Cees G., Hessels, Jason W. T., ...

We report the discovery of two binary millisecond pulsars in the core-collapsed globular cluster M30 using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) at 20 cm. PSR J2140-2310A (M30A) is an eclipsing 11-ms pulsar...

Interferometric Detection of Linear Polarization from Sagittarius A* at 230 GHz (2003)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Wright, Melvyn C. H., Falcke, Heino, Backer, Donald C.

We measured the linear polarization of Sagittarius A* to be 7.2 +/- 0.6 % at 230 GHzusing the BIMA array with a resolution of 3.6 x 0.9 arcsec. This confirms the previously reported detection with...

Gravitational Waves Probe the Coalescence Rate of Massive Black Hole Binaries (2002)

Jaffe, Andrew H., Backer, Donald C.

We calculate the expected nHz--$\mu$Hz gravitational wave (GW) spectrum from coalescing Massive Black Hole (MBH) binaries resulting from mergers of their host galaxies. We consider detection of this...

The Spectrum and Variability of Circular Polarization in Sagittarius A* from 1.4 to 15 GHz (2002)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Falcke, Heino, Sault, Robert J., Backer, Donald C.

We report here multi-epoch, multi-frequency observations of the circular polarization in Sagittarius A*, the compact radio source in the Galactic Center. Data taken from the VLA archive indicate that...

The Spectrum and Variability of Circular Polarization in Sagittarius A* from 1.4 to 15 GHz (2002)

Geoffrey C. Bower, Heino Falcke, Robert J. Sault, Donald C. Backer

We report here multi-epoch, multi-frequency observations of the circular polarization in Sagittarius A*, the compact radio source in the Galactic Center.

Using Pulsars to Detect Massive Black Hole Binaries via Gravitational Radiation: Sagittarius A* and Nearby Galaxies (2001)

Lommen, Andrea N., Backer, Donald C.

Pulsar timing measurements can be used to detect gravitational radiation from massive black hole binaries. The ~106d quasi-periodic flux variations in Sagittarius A* at radio wavelengths reported by...

BIMA Observations of Linear Polarization in Sagittarius A* at 112 GHz (2001)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Wright, Melvyn C. H., Falcke, Heino, Backer, Donald C.

We report here BIMA array observations of linear polarization in Sagittarius A*, the compact radio source in the Galactic Center. These observations had a resolution of 20 arcsec x 5 arcsec oriented...

VLBA Observations of Astrometric Reference Sources in the Galactic Center (2001)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Backer, Donald C., Sramek, Richard A.

We report here on multi-frequency VLBA observations of three extragalactic sources within 1 degree of the Galactic Center. These sources have been used as astrometric reference sources for VLA and...

X-Rays from the Nearby Solitary Millisecond Pulsar PSR J0030+0451 - the Final ROSAT Observations (2000)

Becker, Werner, Tr"umper, Joachim, Lommen, Andrea N., Backer, Donald C.

We report on X-ray observations of the solitary 4.8 ms pulsar PSR J0030+0451. The pulsar was one of the last targets observed in DEC-98 by the ROSAT PSPC. X-ray pulses are detected on a $4.5\sigma$...

New Pulsars from an Arecibo Drift Scan Search (2000)

Lommen, Andrea N., Zepka, Alex, Backer, Donald C., McLaughlin, Maura, Cordes, James C., Arzoumanian, Zaven, ...

We report the discovery of pulsars J0030+0451, J0711+0931, and J1313+0931 that were found in a search of 470 square degrees at 430 MHz using the 305m Arecibo telescope. The search has an estimated...

The Linear Polarization of Sagittarius A* II. VLA and BIMA Polarimetry at 22, 43 and 86 GHz (1999)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Wright, Melvyn C. H., Backer, Donald C., Falcke, Heino

We present a search for linear polarization at 22 GHz, 43 GHz and 86 GHz from the nearest super massive black hole candidate, Sagittarius A*. We find upper limits to the linear polarization of 0.2%,...

Detection of Circular Polarization in the Galactic Center Black Hole Candidate Sagittarius A* (1999)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Falcke, Heino, Backer, Donald C.

We report here the detection of circular polarization in the Galactic Center black hole candidate, Sagittarius A*. The detection was made at 4.8 GHz and 8.4 GHz with the Very Large Array. We find...

The Linear Polarization of Sagittarius A* I. VLA Spectro-polarimetry at 4.8 and 8.4 GHz (1999)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Backer, Donald C., Zhao, Jun-Hui, Goss, Miller, Falcke, Heino

Synchrotron radiation from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is often highly polarized. We present a search for linear polarization with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 4.8 GHz and 8.4 GHz from the nearest...

Space VLBI Observations Show $T_b > 10^{12} K$ in the Quasar NRAO 530 (1998)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Backer, Donald C.

We present here space-based VLBI observations with VSOP and a southern hemisphere ground array of the gamma-ray blazar NRAO 530 at 1.6 GHz and 5 GHz. The brightness temperature of the core at 1.6 GHz...

7 mm lambda VLBA Observations of Sagittarius A* (1998)

Bower, Geoffrey C., Backer, Donald C.

We present 7 mm lambda VLBA observations of the compact nonthermal radio source in the Galactic Center, Sgr A*. These observations confirm the hypothesis that the image of Sgr A* is a resolved...

The Galactic center : proceedings of the symposium honoring C. H. Townes, Berkeley, CA 1986 / editor, Donald C. Backer (1987)

Backer, Donald C

Proceedings of the Symposium on the Galactic Center, held on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, on October 25, 1986

Radio intensity fluctuations in pulsars / (1971)

Backer, Donald C.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Cornell University, Sept. 1971.

BIMA Observations of Linear Polarization in Sagittarius A* at 112 GHz

Geoffrey C. Bower, Heino Falcke, Donald C. Backer

We report here BIMA array observations of linear polarization in Sagittarius A*, the compact radio source in the Galactic Center. These observations had a resolution of 20 00 5 00 oriented...