We present a new survey for pulsars in the error boxes of the low-latitude EGRET sources 3EG J1027-5817, 3EG J1800-2338 and 3EG J1810-1032. Although all of these sources have been covered by previous pulsar surveys, the recent discovery of the young, energetic pulsar PSR J1410-6132 at 6.7 GHz has shown that pulsars of this type can be hidden from low frequency surveys. Using an observing frequency of 3.1 GHz we discovered a 91-ms pulsar, PSR J1028-5819, which observations made at the Parkes telescope and the Australia Telescope Compact Array have shown to be young and energetic. We believe this pulsar is likely to be powering the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1027-5817. Like other energetic pulsars, PSR J1028-5819 is highly linearly polarised, but astonishingly has a pulse duty cycle of only 0.4%, one of the smallest in the entire pulsar catalogue.
At the end of the EGRET mission, only 6-8 Galactic sources had been identified as young pulsars. Since then, several energetic pulsars have been discovered in EGRET error boxes along the Galactic plane, as well as several pulsar wind nebulae from which pulsations have not yet been discovered. Some of these nebulae are associated with moderately variable EGRET sources, suggesting that the gamma-ray emission might be coming from the nebula rather than from the pulsar magnetosphere. There is also a population of unidentified EGRET sources at mid-Galactic latitudes which have been proposed to be e…
A remarkable number of pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) are coincident with EGRET gamma-ray sources. X-ray and radio imaging studies of unidentified EGRET sources have resulted in the discovery of at least 6 new pulsar wind nebulae (PWN). Stationary PWN (SPWN) appear to be associated with steady EGRET sources with hard spectra, typical for gamma-ray pulsars. Their toroidal morphologies can help determine the geometry of the pulsar which is useful for constraining models of pulsed gamma-ray emission. Rapidly moving PWN (RPWN) with more cometary morphologies seem to be associated with variable EGRET so…
The majority of Galactic high-energy gamma-ray sources continue to elude identification. Currently, we have a handful of firm pulsar identifications, one of which is radio quiet, and a few marginal detections, including one millisecond pulsar. Recently, both blind searches of EGRET error boxes and targeted searches of X-ray counterpart candidates have had some success in finding new pulsars. I review these results, and discuss our current program of searching mid-Galactic latitude EGRET error boxes using the Parkes multi-beam system.
As part of an effort to associate the unidentified EGRET gamma-ray sources with pulsars, error boxes for 19 sources were searched using Arecibo at 327-MHz. The sources were chosen to be out-of-plane and possibly associated with the Gould belt, a nearby starburst region with an enhanced production rate of core-collapse supernovae. The search revealed one new 597-ms pulsar, J2243+1518, within the error box of the EGRET source 3EG J2243+1509. The spin-down energy loss rate of the new pulsar is not nearly sufficient to power the gamma-ray source and so the pulsar is very unlikely to be associated.…
Pulsars discovered since the end of the EGRET mission coincident with unidentified high-energy gamma-ray sources are prime targets for AGILE. Both general surveys and targeted observations have been successful in finding energetic young pulsars in the plane of the Galaxy. For the latter, hard X-ray imaging followed by deep radio searches of X-ray sources is a proven route. High-resolution Chandra X-ray imaging has discovered several asymmetric pulsar wind nebulae associated with apparently variable gamma-ray sources along the Galactic plane. The unidentified sources at intermediate Galactic la…
EGRET can now study six pulsars since the recent detection of PSR B1951+32. Careful analysis of the three brightest pulsars shows that gamma rays are emitted through essentially the entire rotation. This calls into question the previous interpretation of the Crab's low-level emission as due entirely to its nebula. The pulse light curves have either well-separated double peaks or very broad peaks which might be resolved into multiple components. The spectra are consistent with power laws over a large portion of the EGRET energy range, and many show a dropoff at a few GeV.
We investigate the role of rotational effects in inducing asymmetry present above ~5 GeV in the double-peak lightcurves of the bright EGRET pulsars: Vela, Crab, and Geminga. According to Thompson 2001, the trailing peak dominates over the leading peak above ~5 GeV consistently for all three pulsars, even though this is not the case over the entire energy range of EGRET, i.e. above ~100 MeV. We present the results of Monte Carlo simulations of electromagnetic cascades in a pulsar magnetosphere within a single-polar-cap scenario with rotationally-induced propagation effects of the order of v/c (…
We present recent X-ray and radio observations of pulsar wind nebulae discovered in EGRET error boxes. Two XMM-Newton observations show the X-ray extent of the rapidly moving PWN associated with the variable gamma-ray source 3EG J1809-2328, and a trail coming from the new millisecond pulsar PSR J1614-2230 at high Galactic z. We also briefly discuss three PWN that are HESS TeV sources including a new HESS source we argue is associated with the Eel nebula in 3EG J1826-1302.
We investigate whether gamma-ray pulsars viewed at a large angle to the neutron star magnetic pole could contribute to the new population of galactic unidentified EGRET sources associated with the Gould Belt. The faint, soft nature of these sources is distinctly different from both the properties of unidentified EGRET sources along the galactic plane and of the known gamma-ray pulsars. We explore the possibility, within the polar cap model, that some of these sources are emission from pulsars seen at lines of sight that miss both the bright gamma-ray cone beams and the radio beam. The off-beam…
We present the discovery of PSR J1410-6132, a 50-ms pulsar found during a high-frequency survey of the Galactic plane, using a 7-beam 6.3-GHz receiver on the 64-m Parkes radio telescope. The pulsar lies within the error box of the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1410-6147, has a characteristic age of 26 kyr and a spin-down energy of 10^37 erg s^-1. It has a very high dispersion measure of 960+/-10 cm^-3 pc and the largest rotation measure of any pulsar, RM=+2400 +/- 30 rad m^-2. The pulsar is very scatter-broadened at frequencies of 1.4 GHz and below, making pulsed emission almost impossible to…
We study the $γ$-ray emission from the pulsar magnetosphere based on outer gap models, and the TeV radiation from pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) through inverse Compton scattering using a one-zone model. We showed previously that GeV radiation from the magnetosphere of mature pulsars with ages of $\sim 10^5-10^6$ years old can contribute to the high latitude unidentified EGRET sources. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations of $γ$-ray pulsars in the Galaxy and the Gould Belt, assuming the pulsar birth rate, initial position, proper motion velocity, period, and magnetic field distribution and evoluti…
Using a likelihood analysis (updated since McLaughlin & Cordes 2000) and EGRET detections, upper limits and diffuse background measurements, we find a best-fit luminosity law for the gamma-ray pulsar population. We find that roughly 30 of the 170 unidentified EGRET sources are likely to be pulsars. This is roughly twice the number of known radio pulsars which are plausibly associated with unidentified EGRET sources. We predict that AGILE will detect roughly 70 pulsars as point sources, including 12 which will be able to be detected in blind periodicity searches. GLAST should detect roughly 120…
Pulsed emission from the bright EGRET pulsars - Vela, Crab, and Geminga - extends up to 10 GeV. The generic gamma lightcurve features two peaks separated by 0.4 to 0.5 in phase. According to Thompson (2001) the lightcurve becomes asymmetrical above 5 GeV in such a way that the trailing peak dominates over the leading peak. We attempt to interpret this asymmetry within a single-polar-cap scenario. We investigate the role of rotational effects on the magnetic one-photon absorption rate in inducing such asymmetry. Our Monte Carlo simulations of pulsar gamma-ray beams reveal that in the case of ob…
A new picture of pulsar high-energy emission is proposed that is different from both the traditional polar cap and outer gap models, but combines elements of each. The slot gap model is based on electron acceleration along the edge of the open field region from the neutron star surface to near the light cylinder. Along the last open field line, the pair formation front rises to very high altitude forming a slot gap, where the accelerating electric field is unscreened by pairs. The resulting radiation features both hollow cones from the lower-altitude pair cascades, seen at small viewing angles…
We have conducted a radio pulsar survey of 56 unidentified gamma-ray sources from the 3rd EGRET catalog which are at intermediate Galactic latitudes (5 deg. < |b| < 73 deg.). For each source, four interleaved 35-minute pointings were made with the 13-beam, 1400-MHz multibeam receiver on the Parkes 64-m radio telescope. This covered the 95% error box of each source at a limiting sensitivity of about 0.2 mJy to pulsed radio emission for periods P > 10 ms and dispersion measures < 50 pc cm-3. Roughly half of the unidentified gamma-ray sources at |b| > 5 deg. with no proposed active galactic nucle…
At least three pulsars in supernova remnants were detected at E > 100 MeV by EGRET on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Efforts to search for additional pulsars in the EGRET data have been unsuccessful due to limited statistics. An example is the recently-discovered radio pulsar J2229+6114, where efforts to search the EGRET data using several different methods failed to find significant evidence of pulsation. The GLAST Large Area Telescope (LAT) will have a much greater effective area and a narrower point-spread function than EGRET. In addition, the field of view will be more than 4 times lar…
The nature of the unidentified gamma-ray point sources in the galactic plane is a long standing puzzle of gamma-ray astronomy. Kaaret and Cottam (1996) showed that 16 of the 25 unidentified gamma-ray point sources near the galactic plane lie in or near associations of massive stars, likely sites of pulsar formation, and that the intrinsic luminosity distribution of the sources is consistent with that of known gamma-ray pulsars. Here, I show there are approximately 5-7 times as many visible gamma-ray pulsars as supernovae remnants. This strengthens the hypothesis that pulsars constitute the maj…
The advent of the next generation of gamma-ray experiments, led by GLAST, AGILE, INTEGRAL and a host of atmospheric Čerenkov telescopes coming on line in the next few years, will enable ground-breaking discoveries relating to the presently enigmatic set of EGRET/CGRO UID galactic sources that have yet to find definitive identifications. Pulsars are principal candidates for such sources, and many are expected to be detected by GLAST, some that are radio-selected, like most of the present EGRET/Comptel pulsars, and perhaps even more that are detected via independent pulsation searches. At this j…
We apply a likelihood analysis to pulsar detections, pulsar upper limits, and diffuse background measurements from the OSSE and EGRET instruments on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory to constrain the luminosity law for gamma-ray pulsars and some properties of the gamma-ray pulsar population. We find that the dependence of luminosity on spin period and dipole magnetic field is much steeper at OSSE than at EGRET energies (50-200 keV and >100 MeV, respectively), suggesting that different emission mechanisms are responsible for low- and high-energy gamma-ray emission. Incorporating a spin-down mod…
We revisit the association of unidentified Galactic plane EGRET sources with tracers of recent massive star formation and death. Up-to-date catalogs of OB associations, SNRs, young pulsars, HII regions and young open clusters were used in finding counterparts for a recent list of EGRET sources. It has been argued for some time that EGRET source positions are correlated with SNRs and OB associations as a class; we extend such analyses by finding additional counterparts and assessing the probability of individual source identifications. Among the several scenarios relating EGRET sources to massi…
We report the detection of radio and X-ray pulsations at a period of 51.6 ms from the X-ray source RX/AX J2229.0+6114 in the error box of the EGRET source 3EG J2227+6122. An ephemeris derived from a single ASCA observation and multiple epochs at 1412 MHz from Jodrell Bank indicates steady spin-down with P-dot = 7.83 x 10^(-14) s/s. From the measured P and P-dot we derive spin-down power E-dot = 2.2 x 10^(37) erg/s, magnetic field B = 2.0 x 10^(12) G, and characteristic age P/2P-dot = 10,460 yr. An image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals a point source surrounded by centrally peaked di…
We report on a deep search for radio pulsations toward five unidentified ASCA X-ray sources coincident with EGRET gamma-ray sources. This search has led to the discovery of a young and energetic pulsar using data obtained with the new Wideband Arecibo Pulsar Processor. PSR J2021+3651 is likely associated with the X-ray source AX J2021.1+3651, which in turn is likely associated with the COS B high energy gamma-ray source 2CG 075+00, also known as GeV J2020+3658 or 3EG J2021+3716. PSR J2021+3651 has a rotation period P = 104 ms and P_dot = 9.6x10^{-14}, implying a characteristic age ~17 kyr and …
We present a correlative study between all unidentified EGRET sources at low Galactic latitudes and the newly discovered pulsars in the released portion of the Parkes multibeam radio survey. We note 14 positional coincidences: eight of these are ``Vela-like'' pulsars, with relatively small periods, small characteristic ages, and high spin-down luminosities. Three of these coincidences have been investigated by D'Amico et al. (2001) and Camilo et al. (2001). Among the others, we argue that PSR J1015-5719 may plausibly generate part of the high energy radiation observed from 3EG J1014-5705. Thre…
The non-detection of pulsed sub-TeV gamma-rays from EGRET pulsars proves that the EGRET pulsed spectra of all gamma-ray pulsars should terminate at energies below a few hundred GeV. The spectrum of a typical integrated pulse profile predicted by the polar cap model resemble typically a hard component, followed by a super exponential cutoff between 1 MeV (PSR B1509-58) and tens of GeV (e.g. Crab, PSR B1951+32 etc). Using a topological trigger for the H.E.S.S. Telescope System in the non-imaging mode, we show that H.E.S.S. should be able to detect pulsed emission from PSR B1706-44 within a few h…
We have conducted a multiwavelength study of several radio sources within or near the error boxes of EGRET unidentified sources at mid to high Galactic latitude, under the hypothesis that the radio sources are blazars and are thus the best identification candidates for the EGRET objects. We show that one of these radio sources, PMN 0850-12, has a flux of 1.5 Jy at 22 GHz and a nearly flat spectrum up to 230 GHz and is thus very likely to be the correct identification for for the EGRET source 2EG J0852-1237.
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…
During its nine-year lifetime, the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) detected 1506 cosmic photons with measured energy E>10 GeV. Of this number, 187 are found within 1 degree of sources that are listed in the Third EGRET Catalog and were included in determining the detection likelihood, flux, and spectra of those sources. In particular, five detected EGRET pulsars are found to have events above 10 GeV, and together they account for 37 events. A pulsar not included in the Third EGRET Catalog has 2 events, both with the same phase and in…
The EGRET catalogue of unidentified X-ray sources has more objects along the galactic disk than at high galactic latitude, where identifications are comparatively easier. On the other hand, the Egret/GRO mission has already identified several known radio pulsars as gamma-ray sources as well as discovering Geminga's nature as a pulsar. If Geminga is not a unique case, as it is very likely not to be, than other galactic sources could, in fact, be radio quiet isolated neutron stars. For these, the identification work is extremely difficult and should anyway start from high resolution X-ray/optica…
We present results of a pulsar population synthesis study that incorporates a number of recent developments and some significant improvements over our previous study. We have included the results of the Parkes multi-beam pulsar survey in our select group of nine radio surveys, doubling our sample of radio pulsars. We adopted with some modifications the radio beam geometry of Arzoumanian, Chernoff & Cordes (2002). For the $γ$-ray beam, we have assumed the slot gap geometry described in the work of Muslimov & Harding (2003). To account for the shape of the distribution of radio pulsars in the $\…
We examine a sample of detected and undetected Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs), selected on the basis of their energy loss and distance, in order to maximize their detection probability. Since the sample we consider encompasses more upper limits than detections, we make use, for the first time in this field of astronomy, of survival analysis procedures through the ASURV software package (Feigelson \& Nelson 1985, Isobe et al. 1986). We show that these techniques lead to a better understanding of the physical processes at work in high-energy emission from INSs. In particular, the recent detection…
The EGRET telescope on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory detected over 200 sources and the majority of these are still unidentified. At least three subpopulations of EGRET sources have been associated with the Galaxy: bright sources lying along the Galactic plane, weaker sources spatially correlated with the Gould Belt and a high-latitude, halo population. Many of these sources may be pulsars and there are more than two-dozen radio pulsars in or near EGRET source error boxes, most of them recently discovered in the Parkes Multibeam Survey. We present results from several population synthesis s…
The variability of the high-energy gamma ray sources in the Third EGRET catalog is analyzed by a new method. We re-analyze the EGRET data to calculate a likelihood function for the flux of each source in each observation, both for detections and upper limits. These functions can be combined in a uniform manner with a simple model of the flux distribution to characterize the flux variation by a confidence interval for the relative standard deviation of the flux. The main result is a table of these values for almost all the cataloged sources. As expected, the identified pulsars are steady emitte…
Identifying gamma-ray sources in the Galaxy is hampered by their poor localization, source confusion, and the large variety of potential emitters. Neutron stars and their environment offer various ways to power gamma-ray sources: pulsed emission from the open magnetosphere and unpulsed gamma rays from the wind nebula and from the cosmic rays accelerated in the supernova remnant. While the latter still awaits confirmation, new candidate associations bring forward the importance of 10-kyr old pulsars as GeV sources, with a diversity that will help constrain the acceleration mechanisms near the p…
Cosmic gamma rays provide insight into some of the most dynamic processes in the Universe. At the dawn of a new generation of gamma-ray telescopes, this review summarizes results from the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the principal predecessor mission studying high-energy photons in the 100 MeV energy range. EGRET viewed a gamma-ray sky dominated by prominent emission from the Milky Way, but featuring an array of other sources, including quasars, pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, and many sources that remain unidentified. A central feature of t…
In a novel approach in observational high-energy gamma-ray astronomy, observations carried out by imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes provide necessary templates to pinpoint the nature of intriguing, yet unidentified EGRET gamma-ray sources. Using GeV-photons detected by CGRO EGRET and taking advantage of high spatial resolution images from H.E.S.S. observations, we were able to shed new light on the EGRET observed gamma-ray emission in the Kookaburra complex, whose previous coverage in the literature is somewhat contradictory. 3EGJ1420-6038 very likely accounts for two GeV gamma-ray sour…
We report circumstantial evidence for the first detection of pulsed high-energy gamma-ray emission from a millisecond pulsar, PSR J0218+4232, using data collected with the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment (EGRET) on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO). The EGRET source 3EG J0222+4253 is shown to be spatially consistent with PSR J0218+4232 for the energy range 100 - 300 MeV. Above 1 GeV the nearby BL Lac 3C 66A is the evident counterpart, and between 300 MeV and 1 GeV both sources contribute to the gamma-ray excess. Folding the 100-1000 MeV photons with an accurate radio ephemeris of P…
We derive an upper limit of 3 mJy (95% confidence) for the flux density at 317 MHz of the Geminga pulsar (J0633+1746). Our results are based on 7 hours of fast-sampled VLA data, which we averaged synchronously with the pulse period using a period model based on CGRO/EGRET gamma-ray data. Our limit accounts for the fact that this pulsar is most likely subject to interstellar scintillations on a timescale much shorter than our observing span. Our Bayesian method is quite general and can be applied to calculate the fluxes of other scintillated sources. We also present a Bayesian technique for cal…
We present a catalog of point gamma-ray sources detected by the EGRET detector aboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. We have used the whole gamma-ray dataset of reprocessed photons at energies above 100 MeV together with new Galactic interstellar emission models based on recent CO, HI, dark gas, and interstellar radiation field data. Two different assumptions have been used for the cosmic-ray distribution in the Galaxy to explore the resulting systematic uncertainties in source detection and characterization. We have used the same 2-dimensional maximum-likelihood detection method as for th…
I review the results of radio and X-ray searches for pulsations from young neutron stars, emphasizing work accomplished in the last five years. I cover undirected searches, as well as directed searches of pulsar wind nebulae, EGRET gamma-ray sources, and also the search for pulsations from "isolated neutron stars" (INSs) and "central compact objects".
The EGRET source 3EG J1835+5918 is the brightest and most accurately positioned of the as-yet unidentified high-energy gamma-ray sources at high Galactic latitude (l,b=89,25). We present a multiwavelength study of the region around it, including X-ray, radio, and optical imaging surveys, as well as optical spectroscopic classification of most of the active objects in this area. The identified X-ray sources in or near the EGRET error ellipse are radio-quiet QSOs, a galaxy cluster, and coronal emitting stars. The radio sources inside the error ellipse are all fainter than 4 mJy at 1.4 GHz. In ad…
The 3rd EGRET Catalog of High-energy Gamma-ray Sources contains 170 unidentified sources, and there is great interest in the nature of these sources. One means of determining source class is the study of flux variability on time scales of days; pulsars are believed to be stable on these time scales while blazars are known to be highly variable. In addition, previous work has demonstrated that 3EG J0241-6103 and 3EG J1837-0606 are candidates for a new gamma-ray source class. These sources near the Galactic plane display transient behavior but cannot be associated with any known blazars. Althoug…
We present three new binary pulsars discovered during a search for pulsations in 56 unidentified mid-latitude EGRET gamma-ray error boxes with the Parkes multibeam receiver. Timing observations of these sources is on-going with both the Parkes and the Green Bank telescopes. We discuss the place of these new systems in the population of binary pulsars and suggest that they are all somewhat atypical systems.
We report on the likely detection of pulsed high-energy gamma-rays from the binary millisecond pulsar PSR J0218+4232 in 100-1000 MeV data from CGRO EGRET. Imaging analysis demonstrates that the highly significant gamma-ray source 2EG J0220+4228 (~10 sigma) is for energies > 100 MeV positionally consistent with both PSR J0218+4232 and the BL Lac 3C66A. However, above 1 GeV 3C66A is the evident counterpart, whereas between 100 and 300 MeV PSR J0218+4232 is the most likely one. Timing analysis using one ephemeris valid for all EGRET observations yields in the 100-1000 MeV range a double-pulse pro…
3EG J1835+5918 is the brightest of the so-called unidentified EGRET sources at intermediate galactic latitude (l,b)=(89,25). We obtained complete radio, optical, and X-ray coverage of its error box, discovering a faint ultrasoft X-ray source in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. Deep optical imaging at the location of this source, as pinpointed by an observation with the ROSAT HRI, reveals a blank field to a limit of V > 25.2. The corresponding lower limit on f_X/f_V is 300, which signifies that the X-ray source 3EG J1835+5918 is probably a thermally emitting neutron star. Here we report on recent Chan…
Population synthesis is used to study the contribution from undetected sources to the Galactic ridge emission measured by EGRET. Synthesized source counts are compared with the 3rd EGRET catalogue at low and high latitudes. For pulsar-like populations, 5-10% of the emission >100 MeV comes from sources below the EGRET threshold. A steeper luminosity function can increase this to 20% without violating EGRET source statistics. Less luminous populations can produce much higher values without being detected. Since the unresolved source spectrum is different from the interstellar spectrum, it could …
CO J=1-0 mapping observations of the dark nebula Lynds 227, which is possibly associated with the unidentified EGRET source 2EG J1811-2339, are presented. We detected a large amount of molecular gas along Lynds 227 with a total mass of (1-2)E4 Msun surrounding an X-ray synchrotron nebula, which was detected by the ASCA satellite within the error circle of 2EG J1811-2339. Molecular gas along Lynds 227 shows spatial anti-correlation with the X-ray synchrotron nebula, suggesting that the synchrotron nebula is interacting with the Lynds 227 cloud. We propose a $γ$-ray emission mechanism for 2EG J1…
Context. A considerable fraction of the gamma-ray sources discovered with the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) remain unidentified. The EGRET sources that have been properly identified are either pulsars or variable sources at both radio and gamma-ray wavelengths. Most of the variable sources are strong radio blazars.However, some low galactic-latitude EGRET sources, with highly variable gamma-ray emission, lack any evident counterpart according to the radio data available until now. Aims. The primary goal of this paper is to identify and characterise the potential radio counte…
The identity of the persistent EGRET sources in the Galactic plane is largely a mystery. For one of these, 3EG J2227+6122, our complete census of X-ray and radio sources in its error circle reveals a remarkable superposition of an incomplete radio shell with a flat radio spectrum, and a compact, power-law X-ray source with photon index Gamma = 1.5 and with no obvious optical counterpart. The radio shell is polarized at a level of 25%. The anomalous properties of the radio source prevent us from deriving a completely satisfactory theory as to its nature. Nevertheless, using data from ROSAT, ASC…
The identification of celestial gamma-ray sources with astronomical objects or object classes has remained the initial and most fundamental key for understanding their physical nature. The observational characteristic of a gamma-ray emitter and the conditions under which an astronomical object is able to produce energetic gamma-ray emission defines the range of candidates available for source identifications. The main obstacle must be seen in the fact that a gamma-ray source location is often imprecise, a flux history could only be established on the basis of weeks, and uncertainties in the ga…
With a period of 51.6 ms and spin-down power 2.2x10^{37} erg s^{-1}, PSR J2229+6114 is a compelling identification for the EGRET source 3EG J2227+6122 in which error circle it resides. Striking features of the Chandra X-ray image are an incomplete elliptical arc and a possible jet, similar to the structures that dominate the appearance of the Vela PWN. Approximately 70% of the 2-10 keV X-ray emission comes from a centrally peaked, diffuse nebula of radius 100" with a power-law spectrum of photon index 1.45 +/- 0.19. The pulsar itself has a marginally harder spectrum with photon index 0.99 +/- …
We present the results of radio searches for pulsars within unidentified EGRET source error boxes. Using the Parkes multibeam system, we have surveyed 56 sources at Galactic latitudes |b| > 5 deg which do not appear to be associated with blazars. This population has been suggested to be distributed like the local star forming region known as the Gould Belt, the Galactic Halo, and/or the millisecond pulsars. We have discovered several new pulsars in this survey, including three new binary systems.
We propose that there possibly exists a population of millisecond pulsars in the Galactic center region. Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) could emit GeV gamma-rays through synchrotron-curvature radiation as predicted by outer gap models. In the same time, the compact wind nebulae around millisecond pulsars can emit X-rays though synchrotron radiation and TeV photons through inverse Compton processes. Besides, millisecond pulsar winds provide good candidates for the electron-positrons sources in the Galactic center. Therefore, we suggest that the millisecond pulsar population could contribute to the …
Part I describes the analysis of periodic and transient signals in EGRET data. A method to search for the transient flux from gamma-ray bursts independent of triggers from other gamma-ray instruments is developed. Several known gamma-ray bursts were independently detected, and there is evidence for a previously unknown gamma-ray burst candidate. Statistical methods using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference are developed and implemented to extract periodic signals from gamma-ray sources in the presence of significant astrophysical background radiation. The analysis was performed on six pu…
The third EGRET catalog contains a large number of unidentified sources. This subset of objects is expected to include known gamma-ray emitters of Galactic origin such as pulsars and supernova remnants, in addition to an extragalactic population of blazars. However, current data allows the intriguing possibility that some of these objects may represent a new class of yet undiscovered gamma-ray sources. Many theoretically motivated candidate emitters (e.g. clumps of annihilating dark matter particles) have been suggested to account for these detections. We take a new approach to determine to wh…
Using the EGRET data and an improved point source analysis, including an energy dependent point spread function and an unbinned maximum likelihood technique, we have been able to place considerably lower limits on the gamma ray flux from the galactic center region. We also test this method on known sources, the Crab and Vela pulsars. In both cases, we find that our method improves the angular precision of EGRET data over the 3EG catalog. This new limit on gamma rays from the galactic center can be used to test models of annihilating supersymmetric dark matter and galactic halo profiles. We fin…
We present a high-energy study of the intriguing COS-B gamma-ray field, 2CG 075+00, in order to search for possible counterparts. New EGRET data show that the COS-B emission probably corresponds to two localized gamma-ray sources, 3EG J2016+3657 and 3EG J2021+3716. Spectral fits to these EGRET sources, assuming a power-law model, yield photon indices of ~ 2 for each object. We examine archival ROSAT and ASCA X-ray data which overlap both EGRET error boxes, and find several point sources in the region to a flux limit of approximately 6.5 x 10^{-13} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}. We conclude that the most …
I will review the latest developments in understanding the high-energy emission of rotation-powered pulsars and magnetically-powered Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters (SGRs). These fields have been extremely active in the last few years, both observationally and theoretically, driven partly by new X-ray data from Chandra, XMM-Newton and RXTE. At the same time, the Parkes Multibeam Survey has discovered over 700 new radio pulsars, some of them young and coincident with EGRET sources, and others having magnetar-strength magnetic fields. These new observations are raisin…
We explore the possibilities for detecting pulsars that have ceased to radiate in the radio band. We consider two models: the model with hindered particle escape from the pulsar surface (first suggested by Ruderman and Sutherland 1975) and the model with free particle escape (Arons 1981; Mestel 1999). In the model with hindered particle escape, the number of particles that leave the pulsar magnetosphere is small and their radiation cannot be detected with currently available instruments. At the same time, for the free particle escape model, both the number of particles and the radiation intens…
The EGRET telescope has repeatedly observed 3EG J1835+5918 as a bright and steady source of high-energy gamma-ray radiation which has not yet been indentified. EGRET data from CGRO observation cycle 1 to 7 have been reanalysed above 100 MeV and above 1 GeV. The gamma-ray source location represents the latest and probably final positional assessment based on EGRET data. We especially adress the question of flux variability and spectral variability. The results of a X-ray/optical identification campaign towards 3EG J1835+5918 are given. The one object which might be associated with the gamma-ray…
