Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations can provide the
position of compact radio sources with an accuracy of order 50
micro-arcseconds. This is sufficient to measure the trigonometric parallax and
proper motions of any object within 500 pc of the Sun to better than a few
percent. Because they are magnetically active, young stars are often associated
with compact radio emission detectable using VLBI techniques. Here we will show
how VLBI observations have already constrained the distance to the most often
studied nearby regions of star-formation (Taurus, Ophiuchus, Orion, etc.) and
have started to provide information on their internal structure and kinematics.
We will then briefly describe a large project (called The Gould's Belt Distance
Survey) designed to provide a detailed view of star-formation in the Solar
neighborhood using VLBI observations.Comment: To be published in the Revista Mexicana de Astronomia y Astrofisica
(Serie de Conferencias
