We study the observable pulse profiles that can be generated from precessing pulsars. A novel coordinate system is defined to aid visualization of the observing geometry. Using this system we explore the different families of profiles that can be generated by simple, circularly symmetric beam shapes. An attempt is then made to fit our model to the observations of relativistic binary PSR B1913+16. It is found that while qualitatively similar pulse profiles can be produced, this minimal model is insufficient for an accurate match to the observational data. Consequently, we confirm that the emission beam of PSR B1913+16 must deviate from circular symmetry, as first reported by Weisberg and Taylor. However, the approximate fits obtained suggest that it may be sufficient to consider only minimal deviations from a circular beam in order to explain the data. We also comment on the applicability of our analysis technique to other precessing pulsars, both binary and isolated.
A unique transient bursting radio source, GCRT J1745-3009, has been discovered (Hyman et al. 2005a) near the direction of the Galactic center. It is still an open question to explain this phenomenon, although some efforts to understand its nature have been made. This paper shows that most of the observed features can be reproduced by our proposed precessing pulsar model. It is found that the precession angle of the pulsar should be larger ($\ga 15^{\rm o}$) than that of previously known precessing pulsars, which have a precession angle $\la 10^{\rm o}$, if the beam width of the pulsar is large…
We present high resolution VLA images taken at the wavelengths of lambda 20 cm, lambda 6 cm, and lambda 3.6 cm in the vicinity of the pulsars PSR B1706-44 (PSR J1709-4428) and PSR B1643-43 (PSR J1646-4346). Both of these pulsars are young (<30,000 yrs) and have large spin-down luminosities (e+35 erg/sec) and hence are good candidates to search for extended synchrotron nebula excited by the relativistic pulsar wind. For PSR B1643-43 we found evidences of a 4'comet-shaped nebula, suggestive of a synchrotron ``wake'' left by a fast moving pulsar. PSR B1706-44 appears surrounded by a spherical neb…
Here we consider the possibility of measuring at 10% or better the moment of inertia I of the J0737-3039A via the gravitomagnetic spin-orbit periastron precession. It turns out that the prospect of measuring the moment of inertia of PSR J0737-3039A at 10% accuracy or better seems unlikely given the limitations to the precision with which the system's basic binary and post-Keplerian parameters can be measured via radio timing.
We investigate on the relative inclination of the planets B and C orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in connection with potential violations of the equivalence principle (Abridged).
We report the detection of Giant Pulses (GPs) in the pulsar PSR J1752+2359. The energy of the strongest GP exceeds the energy of the average pulse by a factor of 200, in which it stands out from all known pulsars with GPs. PSR J1752+2359 as well as the previously detected PSR B0031-07 and PSR B1112+50, belongs to the first group of pulsars found to have GPs without a high magnetic field at the light cylinder.
An independent analysis of the 326.5 MHz data obtained by Ooty Radio Telescope reveals no evidence for coherent diffractive radiation patterns in the millisecond pulsar PSR J0437-4715.
We report the detection of Giant Pulses (GPs) in the pulsar PSR J1752+2359. About one pulse in 270 has a peak flux density more than 40 times the peak flux density of an average pulse (AP), and the strongest GP is as large as 260. The energy of the strongest GP exceeds the energy of the average pulse by a factor of 200 which is greater than in other known pulsars with GPs. PSR J1752+2359 as well as the previously detected pulsars PSR B0031-07 and PSR B1112+50, belong to the first group of pulsars found to have GPs without a strong magnetic field at the light cylinder.
We present high-time-resolution observations of the young precessing pulsar B1828-11, which yield clues to the true beam shape and the fundamental precession period.
We report on diffuse X-ray emission associated with the nearby solitary millisecond pulsar PSR J2124-3358 detected with XMM-Newton and Chandra. The emission extends from the pulsar to the northwest by ~0.5 arcmin. The spectrum of the nebular emission can be modeled with a power-law of photon index $2.2\pm0.4$, in line with the emission originating from accelerated particles in the post shock flow. For PSR J0437-4715, PSR J0030+0451 and PSR J1024-0719, which all have spin parameters comparable to that of PSR J2124-3358, no diffuse emission is detected down to a 3-sigma limiting flux of $4-7\tim…
We report the results of the observations of the three gamma-ray pulsars PSR B0656+14, PSR B1055-52 and PSR B1706-44 performed with BeppoSAX. We detected a pulsed emission only for PSR B1055-52: in the range 0.1-6.5 keV the pulse profile is sinusoidal and the statistical significance is 4.5 sigma. The pulsed fraction was estimated 0.64+/-0.17. This pulsation was detected also at energies greater than 2.5 keV suggesting either a non-thermal origin or a quite high temperature region on the neutron star surface. Spectral analysis showed that only the X-ray spectrum of PSR B1706-44 can be fitted b…
We present new results of timing and single pulse measurements for 18 radio pulsars discovered in 1993 - 1997 by the Penn State/NRL declination-strip survey conducted with the 305-m Arecibo telescope at 430 MHz. Long-term timing measurements have led to significant improvements of the rotational and the astrometric parameters of these sources, including the millisecond pulsar, PSR J1709+2313, and the pulsar located within the supernova remnant S147, PSR J0538+2817. Single pulse studies of the brightest objects in the sample have revealed an unusual "bursting" pulsar, PSR J1752+2359, two new dr…
Giant pulses (GPs) have been detected from the pulsar PSR B0656+14. A pulse that is more intense than the average pulse by a factor of 120 is encountered approximately once in 3000 observed periods of the pulsar. The peak flux density of the strongest pulse, 120 Jy, is a factor of 630 higher than that of the average pulse. The GP energy exceeds the energy of the average pulse by up to a factor of 110, which is comparable to that for other known pulsars with GPs, including the Crab pulsar and the millisecond pulsar PSR B1937+21. The giant pulses are a factor of 6 narrower than the average pulse…
We communicate the detection of soft (20--200 keV) gamma-rays from the pulsar and pulsar wind nebula of PSR J1846-0258 and aim to identify the component of the system which is responsible for the gamma-ray emission. To pinpoint the source of gamma-ray emission we combine spectral information from the INTEGRAL gamma-ray mission with archival data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Our analysis shows that the soft gamma-rays detected from PSR J1846-0258 include emission from both the pulsar and the pulsar wind nebula, but the measured spectral shape is dominated by the pulsar wind nebula. We fu…
The first extrasolar planets were discovered in 1992 around the millisecond pulsar PSR 1257+12. We show that recent developments in the study of accretion onto magnetized stars, plus the existence of the innermost, moon-sized planet in the PSR 1257+12 system, suggest that the pulsar was born with approximately its current rotation frequency and magnetic moment. If so, this has important implications for the formation and evolution of neutron star magnetic fields as well as for the formation of planets around pulsars. In particular, it suggests that some and perhaps all isolated millisecond pul…
We present XMM-Newton MOS imaging and PN timing data of the millisecond pulsar PSR J0218+4232. We confirm the previously detected pulsations of PSR J0218+4232 and we show that the folded lightcurve is dependent on energy. We present the broad band (0.2-10.0 keV) spectrum of this millisecond pulsar, as well as the spectra of: the pulsed emission, the individual pulses, the interpulse and the non-pulsed region and we compare our results with previous data from Rosat, BeppoSAX and Chandra. We discuss the results of the spectral fitting in the context of recent pulsar models.
We report the discovery of 3 pulsars, PSR J0030+0451, PSR J0711+09, and PSR J1313+09 that were found in a three dimensional (DM, period, position) search at 430 MHz using the 305m Arecibo telescope. PSR J0030+0451 is a nearby 4.8-millisecond solitary pulsar. Spin and astrometric parameters are presented for the three new pulsars. We have measured significant polarization in the millisecond pulsar, PSR J0030+0451, over more than 50% of the period and use these data and also a morphological decomposition of the profile to briefly discuss magnetospheric models.
One interesting method of constraining the dense matter Equations of State is to measure the advancement of the periastron of the orbit of a binary radio pulsar (when it belongs to a double neutron star system). There is a great deal of interest on applicability of this procedure to the double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039 (A/B). Although the above method can be applied to PSR A in future within some limitations, for PSR B this method can not be applied. On the other hand, the study of genesis of PSR B might be useful in this connection and its low mass might be an indication that it could be a…
During its life, BeppoSAX observed several isolated pulsars, giving important contributions to the knowledge of the phenomenology and properties of the X-ray emission from this class of sources. In this paper I review the spectral and timing results obtained from BeppoSAX observations. In particular, results on three Crab-like (Crab, PSR B1509-58 and PSR B0540-69) and 3 millisecond pulsars (PSR J0218+42, PSR B1821-24 and PSR B1937+21) are reported.
PSR B1937+21 was the first millisecond pulsar ever measured. Which has been appeared as a singular pulsar. The high-precision observation of this pulsar shows systemic long-term variation in the residual of time of arrivals. This paper modelled the secular variation by the orbital precession induced time delay of a binary pulsar system. The fitting requires that as a binary pulsar, PSR B1937+21 should have small companion star, $m_2\sim 10^{-2}M_{\odot}$, and projected semi-major axis, $x\sim 10^{-4}$s to $10^{-3}$s. Which corresponds to ignorable radial velocity of the pulsar to the line of s…
The data for VHE (~TeV) gamma rays from young gamma-ray pulsar PSR1509-58 observed in 1996 with the CANGAROO 3.8m Cerenkov imaging telescope are presented, as well as the additional data from March to June of 1997. The high spin-down luminosity of the pulsar and the plerionic feature around the pulsar observed with radio and X-rays suggest that VHE gamma-ray emission is quite likely above the sensitivity of the CANGAROO telescope. The CANGAROO results on other pulsars, such as PSR1259-63, are also presented. PSR1259-63 is a highly eccentric X-ray binary system, which includes a high mass Be co…
It is shown that detecting or setting an upper limit on the scalar gravitational radiation is a good experimental test of relativistic gravity theories. The relativistic tensor-field theory of gravitation is revised and it is demonstrated that the scalar monopole gravitational radiation must be added to the usual quadrupole radiation. In the case of the binary pulsar PSR 1913+16 it is predicted the existence 0.735 % excess of the gravitational radiation due to the scalar gravitational waves.
We have investigated the formation of the binary radio pulsars PSR B2303+46 and PSR J1141-6545 via Monte Carlo simulations of a large number of interacting stars in binary systems. PSR B2303+46 has recently been shown (van Kerkwijk & Kulkarni 1999) to be the first neutron star - white dwarf binary system observed, in which the neutron star was born after the formation of the white dwarf. We discuss the formation process for such a system and are able to put constraints on the parameters of the initial ZAMS binary. We present statistical evidence in favor of a white dwarf companion to the binar…
About 100 millisecond (ms) pulsars have been identified in the Galaxy, and only ~10% of them are solitary, i.e. without a binary companion. Nothing is known on the optical emission properties of millisecond pulsars. Observations of solitary millisecond pulsars are the only way to detect their faint optical radiation, otherwise buried by the brighter white dwarf companion. As in the case of solitary, non millisecond pulsars, an X-ray detection represents the first step for a follow-up identification campaign in the optical. Among the X-ray detected millisecond pulsars, PSR J2124-3358 stands out…
Using archival Chandra data we studied the X-ray emission properties of PSR B2224+65 and its environment. Albeit limited by photon statistics the spectral analysis suggests that the bulk of the emission from PSR B2224+65 is non-thermal. Fitting a power-law to the observed energy spectrum yields a photon index of $Γ=1.58^{+0.43}_{-0.33}$. The possible origin of the non-thermal pulsar emission is discussed in the context of the outer-gap model. We did not find any evidence for a compact nebula around PSR B2224+65 though the Chandra data reveal the existence of an extended feature which appears t…
The instability in one of the components of the radio integrated profile (IP) of the millisecond pulsar PSr J0437-4715 is correlated with the occurrence of the spiky emission in that component. It is speculated that the instability in other components is also due to the spiky emission. This might have important implications for interpreting the individual components of the IP as independent beams or regions of emission.
We report on the analysis of archival ASCA, ROSAT and BeppoSAX data of PSR B1055-52, PSR B0656+14 and Geminga, performed in order to investigate the reality of the putative ~10-20 arcmin wide X-ray pulsar-wind nebulae recently proposed to exist around these pulsars. In all these cases, the ROSAT and/or BeppoSAX data show that the diffuse and clumpy X-ray nebulae found by ASCA can be resolved in the contribution of unidentified point sources, unlikely related to the pulsars.
We present XMM-Newton MOS imaging and PN timing data of the faint millisecond pulsars PSR J0751+1807 and PSR J1012+5307. We find 46 sources in the MOS field of view of PSR J0751+1807 searching down to an unabsorbed flux limit of 3 x 10^-15 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 (0.2-10.0 keV). We present, for the first time, the X-ray spectra of these two faint millisecond pulsars. We find that a power law model best fits the spectrum of PSR J0751+1807, Gamma=1.59+/-0.20, with an unabsorbed flux of 4.4 x 10^-14 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 (0.2-10.0 keV). A power law is also a good description of the spectrum of PSR J1012+5307, …
We report on XMM-Newton observations of the "Black Widow pulsar", PSR B1957+20. The pulsar's X-ray emission is non-thermal and best modeled with a single powerlaw spectrum of photon index 2.03(+0.51/-0.36). No coherent X-ray pulsations at the pulsar's spin-period could be detected, though a strong binary-phase dependence of the X-ray flux is observed for the first time. The data suggest that the majority of the pulsar's X-radiation is emitted from a small part of the binary orbit only. We identified this part as being near to where the radio eclipse takes place. This could mean that the X-rays…
In view of the recent measurement of the scintillation velocity for PSR J0737-3039, we examine the complete set of constraints imposed on the pulsar B natal kicks (magnitude and orientation) and predict the most favorable pulsar kick velocity and spin tilt for both isotropic and polar kicks. Our analysis takes into account both currently unknown parameters: the orientation of the orbital plane on the sky (Omega) and the radial component of the systemic velocity (V_r). Assuming that the system's peculiar velocity is entirely due to the second supernova explosion, we find that the system may hav…
We present X-ray observations of two young energetic radio pulsars, PSRs B1046-58 and B1610-50, and their surroundings, using archival data from the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA). The energetic pulsar PSR B1046-58 is detected in X-rays with a significance of 4.5 sigma. The unabsorbed flux, estimated assuming a power-law spectrum and a neutral hydrogen column density N_H of 5E21 cm^-2 is (2.5 +/- 0.3) x 10E-13 ergs/cm^2/s in the 2-10 keV band. Pulsed emission is not detected; the pulsed fraction is less than 31% at the 90% confidence level for a 50% duty cycle. We arg…
Seven giant radio pulses were recorded from the millisecond pulsar PSR B1937+21 during $\approx$ 8.1 minutes observation by the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT) at 326.5 MHz. Although sparse, these observations support most of the giant pulse behavior reported at higher radio frequencies (430 to 2380 MHz). Within the main componentof the integrated profile, they are emitted only in a narrow ($\la$ 47 $μ$s) window of pulse phase, close to its peak. This has important implications for doing super-high precision timing of PSR B1937+21 at low radio frequencies.
We report results from Exploratory Time observations of the double-pulsar system PSR J0737-3039 using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The large gain of the GBT, the diversity of the pulsar backends, and the four different frequency bands used have allowed us to make interesting measurements of a wide variety of phenomena. Here we briefly describe results from high-precision timing, polarization, eclipse, scintillation velocity, and single-pulse work.
We report the detection of pulsed X-ray emission ($4.9σ$) from the binary millisecond pulsar PSR J0218+4232 in a 100 ks ROSAT HRI observation. The pulse profile shows a sharp main pulse and an indication for a second weaker pulse at $\sim$ 0.47 phase separation. The pulsed fraction is 37 \pm 13%. PSR J0218+4232 was several times in the field of view of the high-energy $γ$-ray telescope EGRET and a source positionally consistent with the pulsar was detected above 100 MeV. Spatial and timing analyses of EGRET data indicate that the source is probably multiple: Between 0.1 GeV and 1 GeV PSR J0218…
PSR B0628-28 is an X-ray emitting radio pulsar which was observed with Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) on board Chandra on 2001 November 04 and on 2002 March 25 for 2000 s and 17000 s, respectively. The source countrate was 0.0111+-0.0013 cps. Making PSR B0628-28 to be the longest period X-ray emitting pulsar. The spectral distribution of counts can be described by several model fits. A blackbody fit yields a temperature kT=2.69_{-0.09}^{+0.09}x10^{6} K together with N_{H}=0.082_{-0.03}^{+0.04}x10^{22} cm^{-2} and a powerlaw fit yields a photon index of γ=2.65_{-0.29}^{+0.28} with a h…
PSR B1931+24 is the first intermittent radio pulsar discovered to date, characterized by a 0.8 s pulsation which turns on and off quasi-periodically every ~35 days, with a duty cycle of ~10%. We present here X-ray and optical observations of PSR B1931+24 performed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Isaac Newton Telescope, respectively. Simultaneous monitoring from the Jodrell Bank Observatory showed that this intermittent pulsar was in the radio-on phase during our observations. We do not find any X-ray or optical counterpart to PSR B1931+24 translating into an upper limit of ~2x10^{31} er…
In this paper we revisit the radio pulsar death line problem within the framework of curvature radiation and/or inverse compton scattering induced vacuum gap model above neutron star polar caps. Our special interest is in the recently detected pulsar PSR J2144-3933 with extremal period 8.5 seconds, which lies far beyond conventional death lines. We argue, that formation of vacuum gaps requires a complicated multipolar surface magnetic field, with a strenght $B_s$ much higher than the surface dipolar component $B_d$, and radii of curvature ${\cal R}$ much smaller than the neutron star radius $R…
PSR J1814-1744 is a 4 s radio pulsar with surface dipole magnetic field strength 5.5*10^13 G, inferred assuming simple magnetic dipole braking. This pulsar's spin parameters are very similar to those of anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs), suggesting that this may be a transition object between the radio pulsar and AXP population, if AXPs are isolated, high magnetic field neutron stars as has recently been hypothesized. We present archival X-ray observations of PSR J1814-1744 made with ROSAT and ASCA. X-ray emission is not detected from the position of the radio pulsar. The derived upper flux limit…
The pulsar PSR B1828-11 has long-term, highly periodic and correlated variations in both pulse shape and the rate of slow-down. This phenomenon may provide evidence for precession of the pulsar as suggested previously within the framework of free precession as well as forced one. On a presumption of forced precession, we propose a quark planet model to this precession henomenon instead, in which the pulsar is torqued by a quark planet. We construct this model by constraining mass of the pulsar ($M_{\rm psr}$), mass of the planet ($M_{\rm pl}$) and orbital radius of the planet ($r_{\rm pl}$). F…
PSR J0737-3039A is a millisecond pulsar with a spin period of 22.7 ms included in a double-neutron star system with an orbital period of 2.4 hrs. Its companion has also been detected as a radio pulsar, making this binary the first known double-pulsar system. Its discovery has important implications for relativistic gravity tests, gravitational wave detection and plasma physics. Here we will shortly describe the discovery of the first pulsar in this unique system and present the first results obtained by follow-up studies.
We have studied the nearby old pulsar PSR B1929+10 and its surrounding interstellar medium utilizing the sub-arcsecond angular resolution of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The Chandra data are found to be fully consistent with the results obtained from deep XMM-Newton observations as far as the pulsar is concerned. We confirm the non-thermal emission nature of the pulsar's X-radiation. In addition to the X-ray trail already seen in previous observations by the ROSAT and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories, we discovered an arc-like nebula surrounding the pulsar. We interpret the feature as a bow-sh…
We report on results of an observation with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) of PSR B1706-44 with a live time of 132 ks, to search for pulsed X-ray emission. PSR B1706-44 is a radio and high-energy gamma-ray pulsar (detected by EGRET), but no pulsed emission has been detected in the X-ray band. Since most of the other known gamma-ray pulsars emit pulsed X-rays, it is expected that PSR B1706-44 would also be an X-ray pulsar. However, while the ROSAT PSPC detected a source at the pulsar position, it did not detect pulsations, giving a pulsed fraction upper limit of 18%. The RXTE observatio…
We report observations of PSR's 0740-28, 1737-30, 1822-09, 1915+13 and 1916+14 with ROSAT. In the 0.1-2.1 keV range upper limits to luminosity are derived for power law and blackbody spectra, using a range of $N_{H}$ estimates. The upper limit to the blackbody luminosity from PSR1822-09 turns out to be consistent with standard cooling curves. For the other pulsars the upper limits are not restrictive as they are much larger than the luminosities predicted by the models.
We discuss the formation of pulsars with massive companions in eccentric orbits. We demonstrate that the probability for a non-recycled radio pulsar to have a white dwarf as a companion is comparable to that of having an old neutron star as a companion. Special emphasis is given to PSR B1820-11 and PSR B2303+46. Based on population synthesis calculations we argue that PSR B1820-11 and PSR B2303+46 could very well be accompanied by white dwarfs with mass > 1.1Msun. For PSR B1820-11, however, we can not exclude the possibility that its companion is a main-sequence star with a mass between about …
We report on the first Green Bank Telescope observations at 427, 820 and 1400 MHz of the newly discovered, highly inclined and relativistic double pulsar binary. We focus on the brief eclipse of PSR J0737-3039A, the faster pulsar, when it passes behind PSR J0737-3039B. We measure a frequency-averaged eclipse duration of 26.6 +/- 0.6 s, or 0.00301 +/- 0.00008 in orbital phase. The eclipse duration is found to be significantly dependent on radio frequency, with eclipses longer at lower frequencies. Specifically, eclipse duration is well fit by a linear function having slope (-4.52 +/- 0.03) x 10…
We present radio observations of a region in the vicinity of the young pulsar PSR B1853+01 in the supernova remnant W44. The pulsar is located at the apex of an extended feature with cometary morphology. We argue on the basis of its morphology and its spectral index and polarization properties that this is a synchrotron nebula produced by the spin down energy of the pulsar. The geometry and physical parameters of this pulsar-powered nebula and W44 are used to derive three different measures of the pulsar's transverse velocity. A range of estimates between 315 and 470 km/s are derived, resultin…
PSR B0628-28 is a radio pulsar which was first detected in the X-ray band by ROSAT and then later observed with Chandra and XMM-Newton. The Chandra observation yielded an X-ray luminosity two orders of magnitude higher than what is expected for spin-powered pulsars, also there were no pulsations detected. The XMM-Newton observation, however, reveals pulsations at the expected radio period, P=1.244 s. The simultaneously analyzed spectra also gives a luminosity (in cgs) Log Lx=30.34, which is ~350 times greater than what would be expected from the correlation between Lx-Edot.
Observations have been made with the University of Durham Mark 6 telescope of a number of supernova remnants and young pulsars (Vela pulsar, PSR B1055-52, PSR J1105-6107, PSR J0537-6910 and PSR B0540-69). No VHE gamma ray emission, either steady or pulsed, has been detected from these objects.
Scintillation observations of the nearby single millisecond pulsar (MSP) PSR J0030+0451 were carried out with the Parkes 64m radiotelescope at three different epochs in 1999. From analysis of the dynamic spectrum we obtained the amplitude of the electron density power spectrum log C_N^2 ~= -3.33$ and a scintillation velocity V_iss <~ 15 km s^-1. This result shows that the Shklovskii effect on the spin-down rate \dot P is negligible. We also performed a correlation analysis between pulsar proper motions (V_pm) and scintillation velocities (V_iss) using updated measurements for a sample of 77 ob…
We report the detection of probable optical counterparts for two Intermediate Mass Binary Pulsar (IMBP) systems, PSR J1528-3146 and PSR J1757-5322. Recent radio pulsar surveys have uncovered a handful of these systems with putative massive white dwarf companions, thought to have an evolutionary history different from that of the more numerous class of Low Mass Binary Pulsars (LMBPs) with He white dwarf companions. The study of IMBP companions via optical observations offers us several new diagnostics: the evolution of main sequence stars near the white-dwarf-neutron star boundary, the physics …
We have investigated the radio polarization properties of PSR J1119-6127, a recently discovered young radio pulsar with a large magnetic field. Using pulsar-gated radio imaging data taken at a center frequency of 2496 MHz with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, we have determined a rotation measure for the pulsar of +842 +/- 23 rad m^-2. These data, combined with archival polarimetry data taken at a center frequency of 1366 MHz with the Parkes telescope, were used to determine the polarization characteristics of PSR J1119-6127 at both frequencies. The pulsar has a fractional linear polariz…
The young pulsar PSR B0540-69 was one of the first targets observed with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The high angular resolution of Chandra allows us to resolve the compact nebula surrounding the pulsar. We have determined a position for PSR B0540-69 of R.A. = 05h 40m 11s.221, decl. = -69o 19' 54".98 (J2000) with a 1-sigma radial uncertainty of 0.7". Combining our measurements of the pulsar period with previous measurements covering a span of 12 years, we derive a braking index of 2.08. The spectrum of the pulsed emission is consistent with a power-law with a photon index of 1.83 +/- 0.13. …
The soft gamma repeater SGR 1900+14 was observed in Pushchino observatory since 1988 December using BSA radio telescope operating at 111 MHz. We have detected the pulsed radio emission (Shitov 1999) with the same 5.16 s period that was reported earlier for this object. The timing analysis has shown that this new radio pulsar PSR J1907+0919 associated with SGR 1900+14 has a superstrong magnetic field, which is 8.1 * 10^14 G, thereby confirming that it is a "magnetar". The dispersion measure of PSR J1907+0919 is 281.4(9) pc * cm^(-3) which gives an estimate of the pulsar's distance as about 5.8 …
Interstellar scintillations of pulsars PSR B0809+74 and B0950+08 have been studied using observations at low frequencies (41, 62, 89, and 112 MHz). Characteristic temporal and frequency scales of diffractive scintillations at these frequencies have been determined. The comprehensive analysis of the frequency and temporal structure functions reduced to the same frequency has shown that the spectrum of interstellar plasma inhomogeneities toward both pulsars is described by a power law. The exponent of the spectrum of fluctuations of interstellar plasma inhomogeneities toward PSR B0950+08 (n = 3.…
In this paper we present some preliminary result on the spectral and timing analysis of the X-ray pulsed emission from the 16 ms pulsar PSR J0537-6910 in the energy range 0.1--30 keV, based on archival BeppoSAX and RossiXTE observations. This pulsar, discovered by Marshall et al.(1998) in the LMC field with RXTE, is the fastest spinning pulsar associated with a supernova remnant. It is characterized by strong glitch activity with the highest rate of all known Crab-like system.
We report on Australia Telescope Compact Array observations of the ~10^5 yr old pulsar PSR B0906-49. In an image containing only off-pulse emission, we find a weak, slightly extended source coincident with the pulsar's position, which we argue is best interpreted as a pulsar wind nebula (PWN). A trail of emission extending behind the pulsar aligns with the major axis of the PWN, and implies that the pulsar is moving north-west with projected velocity ~60 km/s, consistent with its scintillation speed. The consequent density we infer for the pulsar's environment is >2 cm^(-3), so that the PWN ar…
We present X-ray, radio, and infrared observations of the 68 ms pulsar PSR J1420-6048 and its surrounding nebula, a possible counterpart of the gamma-ray source GeV J1417-6100/3EG J1420-6038. Pulsed X-ray emission at the radio period is marginally detected by ASCA from a source embedded in the hard spectrum X-ray nebula AX J1420.1-6049. At radio wavelengths, the pulsar is found to be strongly linearly and circularly polarized, and the polarization sweep is measured. A comparison of high resolution ATCA radio imaging of the Kookaburra's upper wing (G313.6+0.3), which contains the pulsar and the…
We report a detailed multi-frequency study of significant instabilities observed in the average pulse profile of the 16-millisecond pulsar PSR J1022+1001. These unusual profile variations which are seen as a function of time and of radio frequency are clearly different from classical profile mode-changing. We also note discrete jumps in the polarisation position angle curve of this pulsar which are remarkably coincident with the unstable profile component. We propose that these jumps, as well as the instability of the pulse profile, are due to magnetospheric return currents. This would allow u…
The COS B high energy gamma-ray source 2CG 075+00, also known as GeV J2020+3658 or 3EG J2021+3716, has avoided identification with a low energy counterpart for over twenty years. We present a likely identification with the discovery and subsequent timing of a young and energetic pulsar, PSR J2021+3651, with the Wideband Arecibo Pulsar Processor at the Arecibo Observatory. PSR J2021+3651 has a rotation period P = 104ms and Pdot = 9.6 x 10^{-14}, implying a characteristic age T_c = 17kyr and a spin-down luminosity Edot = 3.4 x 10^{36} erg s^{-1}. The pulsar is also coincident with the ASCA sourc…
Recent work by Rankin & Deshpande strongly suggests that there exist strong ``micro-storms'' rotating around the magnetic axis of the 1.1s pulsar PSR 0943+10. Such a feature hints that most probably the large-voltage vacuum gap proposed by Ruderman & Sutherland (RS) does exist in the pulsar polar cap. However, there are severe arguments against the formation of the RS-type gap in pulsars, since the binding energies of both the Fe ions and the electrons in a neutron star's surface layer is too small to prevent thermionic ejection of the particles from the surface. Here we propose that PSR 0943+…
We sought to determine the scale of scintillation in the interstellar plasma of PSR J0437-4715. We used the Very Long Baseline Array to obtain scintillation amplitude and phase data, from dynamic spectra at 327 MHz. We observe two scales of scintillation of pulsar PSR J0437-4715, differing by more than an order of magnitude in scintillation bandwidth. The wider-bandwidth scale of scintillation that we observe indicates less scattering for this pulsar than for other nearby pulsars, except for PSR B0950+08.
