Search for Optical Pulsations from the Vela Pulsar
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Vela
Crab Nebula
Crab Pulsar
Pulsar planet
X-ray pulsar
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The double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039 offers an unprecedented opportunity for studying General Relativity and neutron-star magnetospheres. This system has a favourable orbital inclination such that the millisecond pulsar, A, is eclipsed when its slower companion, passes in front. High time resolution light curves of the eclipses reveal periodic modulations of the radio flux corresponding to the fundamental and the first harmonic of pulsar spin frequency. Eclipse modelling is highly sensitive to the geometrical configuration of the system and thus provides a unique probe for parameters like the inclination angle of pulsar B spin axis as well as their time evolution due to relativistic effects. We report on detailed fitting of the pulsar A eclipse light curves to a model that includes, for pulsar B, a simple dipolar magnetic field. We find that the eclipses can be reproduced very well, and we obtain precise measurements of pulsar B's orientation in space. We report on a search for secular changes caused by geodetic precession of pulsar B's spin axis.
Pulsar planet
X-ray pulsar
Eclipse
Precession
Ephemeris
Orbital inclination
Astrometry
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Binary radio pulsar system J0737-3039 provides an exceptional opportunity to study innermost structure of pulsar magnetospheres due to very tight orbit, favorable directions of pulsars' rotation and magnetic axes and extremely fortuitous orientation of the orbit. In this system the millisecond pulsar A is eclipsed once per orbit. During eclipse a clear modulation at the 2.77 s period of pulsar B is seen, pointing unambiguously to magnetospheric origin of eclipses. A simple geometric model, based on the idea that the radio pulses are attenuated by synchrotron absorption on the closed magnetic field lines of pulsar B, can successfully reproduces the eclipse light curves down to intricate details. This detailed agreement confirms the dipolar structure of the neutron star's magnetic field. The model gives clear predictions for temporal evolution of eclipse profile due to geodetic precession of pulsar B. In addition, pulsar B shows orbital modulations of intensity, being especially bright at two short orbital phases. We showed that these modulations are due to distortion of pulsar B magnetosphere by pulsar A wind which produces orbital phase-dependent changes of the direction along which radio waves are emitted. Thus, pulsar B is intrinsically bright at all times but its radiation beam misses the Earth at most orbital phases.
Pulsar planet
X-ray pulsar
Eclipse
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Binary radio pulsar system J0737-3039 provides an exceptional opportunity to study innermost structure of pulsar magnetospheres due to very tight orbit, favorable directions of pulsars' rotation and magnetic axes and extremely fortuitous orientation of the orbit. In this system the millisecond pulsar A is eclipsed once per orbit. During eclipse a clear modulation at the 2.77 s period of pulsar B is seen, pointing unambiguously to magnetospheric origin of eclipses. A simple geometric model, based on the idea that the radio pulses are attenuated by synchrotron absorption on the closed magnetic field lines of pulsar B, can successfully reproduces the eclipse light curves down to intricate details. This detailed agreement confirms the dipolar structure of the neutron star's magnetic field.
The model gives clear predictions for temporal evolution of eclipse profile due to geodetic precession of pulsar B.
In addition, pulsar B shows orbital modulations of intensity, being especially bright at two short orbital phases. We showed that these modulations are due to distortion of pulsar B magnetosphere by pulsar A wind which produces orbital phase-dependent changes of the direction along which radio waves are emitted. Thus, pulsar B is intrinsically bright at all times but its radiation beam misses the Earth at most orbital phases.
Pulsar planet
X-ray pulsar
Eclipse
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Pulsar planet
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X-ray pulsar
Pulsar planet
Galactic plane
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Abstract Pulsars in relativistic binary systems have emerged as fantastic natural laboratories for testing theories of gravity, the most prominent example being the double pulsar, PSR J0737–3039. The HTRU-South Low Latitude pulsar survey represents one of the most sensitive blind pulsar surveys taken of the southern Galactic plane to date, and its primary aim has been the discovery of new relativistic binary pulsars. Here we present our binary pulsar searching strategy and report on the survey’s flagship discovery, PSR J1757–1854. A 21.5-ms pulsar in a relativistic binary with an orbital period of 4.4 hours and an eccentricity of 0.61, this double neutron star (DNS) system is the most accelerated pulsar binary known, and probes a relativistic parameter space not yet explored by previous pulsar binaries.
Galactic plane
X-ray pulsar
Pulsar planet
Eccentricity (behavior)
Orbital period
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We report on the discovery of a binary pulsar, PSR J1740—3052, during the Parkes multibeam survey. Timing observations of the 570-ms pulsar at Jodrell Bank and Parkes show that it is young, with a characteristic age of 350 kyr, and is in a 231-d, highly eccentric orbit with a companion whose mass exceeds 11 M⊙. An accurate position for the pulsar was obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Near-infrared 2.2-μm observations made with the telescopes at the Siding Spring observatory reveal a late-type star coincident with the pulsar position. However, we do not believe that this star is the companion of the pulsar, because a typical star of this spectral type and required mass would extend beyond the orbit of the pulsar. Furthermore, the measured advance of periastron of the pulsar suggests a more compact companion, for example, a main-sequence star with radius only a few times that of the Sun. Such a companion is also more consistent with the small dispersion measure variations seen near periastron. Although we cannot conclusively rule out a black hole companion, we believe that the companion is probably an early B star, making the system similar to the binary PSR J0045—7319.
X-ray pulsar
Pulsar planet
Proper motion
Orbit (dynamics)
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Photometric data of the Crab pulsar, obtained in stroboscopic mode over a period of more than eight years, are presented here. The applied Fourier analysis reveals a faint 60 second modulation of the pulsar's signal, which we interpret as a free precession of the pulsar.
Crab Pulsar
Stroboscope
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In this thesis the infrared spectrum of the Crab pulsar is determined. The Crab pulsar lies in the centre of a supernova remnant, the Crab nebula, in the constellation of Taurus, and it is loca ...
Crab Nebula
Crab Pulsar
Pulsar planet
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Vela
Crab Nebula
Crab Pulsar
Pulsar planet
X-ray pulsar
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