The Size of the Extragalactic Source J1801−231 and the Association of Pulsar PSR B1758−23 with the Supernova Remnant W28

Abstract

We have used the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) in conjunction with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) Pie Town antenna as a real-time interferometer system to measure the size of the extragalactic source J1801-231 as a function of frequency from 1285 to 4885 MHz. These observations were made in an attempt to determine the effect interstellar scattering has on the observed sizes of OH (1720 MHz) masers in the nearby (d=2.5 kpc) supernova remnant W28. The observations clearly show that J1801-231 displays angular broadening due to turbulence in the Galaxy's interstellar medium. The minimum distance of the nearby (two arcminutes from J1801-231) pulsar PSR B1758-23 is constrained to be 9.4 +/- 2.4 kpc. This value is based on both the measured size of 220 mas for J1801-231 at 1715 MHz and the temporal broadening of the pulsar. A single thin scattering screen along the line of sight to the W28 OH(1720 MHz) masers must be at 4.7 +/- 1.2 kpc for this minimum pulsar distance. The screen may be placed closer to the Earth, but for reasonable values of the pulsar distance (i.e., the pulsar is within the Galaxy), this choice leads to a negligible scattering contribution to the sizes of the masers. Thus the OH(1720 MHz) masers, at a distance of 2.5 +/- 0.7 kpc, are unaffected by interstellar scattering, and the measured maser sizes must be intrinsic. Our measured upper limits to the size of the pulsar itself are consistent with the distance estimates to the pulsar and the scattering screen.