Slow glitches in the pulsar B1822-09

The pulsar B1822-09 (J1825-0935) experienced a series of five unusual, slow glitches over the 1995–2004 interval. The results of further study of this unusual glitch phenomenon are presented. It is also reported the detection a new glitch of typical signature that occurred in the pulsar period in 2006 January.      

射电脉冲星周期跃变研究的进展

射电脉冲星周期跃变被认为是研究中子星内部结构和状态的极好探针。脉冲星高频巡天发现了一批年青脉冲星,脉冲星周期跃变的观测研究也有了飞快进展。至少发现了２５颗有跃变现象的脉冲星（简称跃变脉冲星）和７６次跃变事件。ＰＳＲＪ０８３５－４５１０是目前已有跃变脉冲星活动参数最高的,ＰＳＲＪ１３４１－６２２２０的跃变活动最频繁,而ＰＳＲＪ１６１４－５０４７在１９９５年发生的跃变是规模最大的,不同脉冲星的跃变事件     

Spatially resolved STIS spectra of the gravitationally lensed broad absorption line quasar APM08279+5255: the nature of component C and evidence for microlensing

PSR J1806−2125 is a pulsar discovered in the Parkes multibeam pulsar survey with a rotational period of 0.4 s and a characteristic age of 65 kyr. Between MJDs 51462 and 51894 this pulsar underwent an increase in rotational frequency of  Δ ν / ν ≈16×10^-6  . The magnitude of this glitch is ∼2.5 times greater than any previously observed in any pulsar and 16 times greater than the mean glitch size. This Letter gives the parameters of the glitch and compares its properties with those of previously observed events. The existence of such large and rare glitches offers new hope for attempts to observe thermal X-ray emission from the internal heat released following a glitch, and suggests that pulsars which previously have not been observed to glitch may do so on long time-scales .     

The micro-glitch in PSR B1821−24: a case for a strange pulsar?

The single glitch observed in PSR B1821−24, a millisecond pulsar in M28, is unusual on two counts. First, the magnitude of this glitch is at least an order of magnitude smaller  (Δν/ν∼ 10⁻¹¹)  than the smallest glitch observed to date. Secondly, all other glitching pulsars have strong magnetic fields with   B ≳ 10¹¹ G  and are young, whereas PSR B1821−24 is an old recycled pulsar with a field strength of  2.25 × 10⁹ G  . We have earlier suggested that some of the recycled pulsars could actually be strange quark stars. In this work, we argue that the crustal properties of such a strange pulsar are just right to give rise to a glitch of this magnitude, explaining the scarcity of larger glitches in millisecond pulsars.     

Recent glitches detected in the Crab pulsar

From 2000 to 2010, monitoring of radio emission from the Crab pulsar at Xinjiang Observatory detected a total of nine glitches. The occurrence of glitches appears to be a random process as described by previous researches. A persistent change in pulse frequency and pulse frequency derivative after each glitch was found. There is no obvious correlation between glitch sizes and the time since last glitch. For these glitches Δν _p and D[(n)\dot]_p\Delta\dot{\nu}_{p} span two orders of magnitude. The pulsar suffered the largest frequency jump ever seen on MJD 53067.1. The size of the glitch is ∼6.8×10⁻⁶ Hz, ∼3.5 times that of the glitch occurred in 1989 glitch, with a very large permanent changes in frequency and pulse frequency derivative and followed by a decay with time constant ∼21 days. The braking index presents significant changes. We attribute this variation to a varying particle wind strength which may be caused by glitch activities. We discuss the properties of detected glitches in Crab pulsar and compare them with glitches in the Vela pulsar.     

Small glitches: the role of strange nuggets?

Pulsar glitches, i.e. the sudden spin-ups of pulsars, have been detected for most known pulsars.The mechanism giving rise to this kind of phenomenon is uncertain, although a large data set has been built.In the framework of the starquake model, based on Baym Pines, the glitch sizes(the relative increases of spin-frequencies during glitches) ??/? depend on the released energies during glitches, with less released energies corresponding to smaller glitch sizes. On the other hand, as one of the dark matter candidates,our Galaxy might be filled with so called strange nuggets(SNs) which are relics from the early Universe.In this case collisions between pulsars and SNs are inevitable, and these collisions would lead to glitches when enough elastic energy has been accumulated during the spin-down process. The SN-triggered glitches could release less energy, because the accumulated elastic energy would be less than that in the scenario of glitches without SNs. Therefore, if a pulsar is hit frequently by SNs, it would tend to have more small glitches, whose values of ??/? are smaller than those in the standard starquake model(with larger amounts of released energy). Based on the assumption that in our Galaxy the distribution of SNs is similar to that of dark matter, as well as on the glitch data in the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue and Jodrell Bank glitch table, we find that in our Galaxy the incidences of small glitches exhibit tendencies consistent with the collision rates between pulsars and SNs. Further testing of this scenario is expected by detecting more small glitches(e.g.,by the Square Kilometre Array).     

国家授时中心40米射电望远镜Crab脉冲星周期跃变监测

脉冲星周期跃变是一种罕见的现象,是研究其内部结构的探针。针对2019年2月~12月国家授时中心昊平观测站40 m射电望远镜在脉冲星计时观测中监测Crab脉冲星的数据,采用脉冲星计时方法,用TEMPO2拟合程序进行分析。结果表明,Crab脉冲星在2019年7月23日(MJD 58687)附近发生了一次周期跃变现象,该跃变自转增量为Δv_g=5.33(4)×10^-7Hz,自转变化量为Δv_g/v=17.9(1)×10^-9,并伴随着恢复系数Q~0.88的指数恢复过程。此次Crab脉冲星周期跃变的监测及处理,证实了40 m射电望远镜对脉冲星的监测性能,同时为研究周期跃变的产生机理积累了样本。     

The steady spin-down rate of 4U 1907+09

Using X-ray data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer , we report the pulse timing results of the accretion-powered, high-mass X-ray binary pulsar 4U 1907+09, covering a time-span of almost two years. We measured three new pulse periods in addition to the previously measured four pulse periods. We are able to connect pulse arrival times in phase for more than a year. The source has been spinning down almost at a constant rate, with a spin-down rate of     for more than 15 yr. Residuals of pulse arrival times yield a very low level of random-walk noise, with a strength of ∼     on a time-scale of 383 d, which is 40 times lower than that of the high-mass X-ray binary pulsar Vela X-1. The noise strength is only a factor of 5 greater than that of the low-mass X-ray binary pulsar 4U 1626−67. The low level of the timing noise and the very stable spin-down rate of 4U 1907+09 make this source unique among the high-mass X-ray binary pulsars, providing another example, in addition to 4U 1626−67, of long-term quiet spin down from an accreting source. These examples show that the extended quiet spin-down episodes observed in the anomalous X-ray pulsars 1RXS J170849.0−400910 and 1E 2259+586 do not necessarily imply that these sources are not accreting pulsars.     

Glitch monitoring in PSRs B1046−58 and B1737−30

Large glitches were recently observed in the spin rates of two pulsars, B1046−58 and B1737−30. The glitches were characterized by fractional increases in rotation rate of 0.77 and  1.44×10⁻⁶  respectively. PSR B1737−30 is the most frequently glitching pulsar and this is the largest glitch so far observed from it. Most of the jump in the spin-down rate accompanying these glitches decayed away on short time-scales of a few days. For PSR B1737−30, there appears to be a cumulative shift in spin-down rate resulting from its frequent glitches. This probably accounts for its braking index of  −4±2  suggested by the available data, while a value of  2.1±0.2  is obtained for B1046−58.     

Precession of the isolated neutron star PSR B1828−11

Stairs, Lyne & Shemar have found that the arrival-time residuals from PSR B1828−11 vary periodically with a period ≈500 d. This behaviour can be accounted for by precession of the radio pulsar, an interpretation that is reinforced by the detection of variations in its pulse profile on the same time-scale. Here, we model the period residuals from PSR B1828−11 in terms of precession of a triaxial rigid body. We include two contributions to the residuals: (i) the geometric effect, which arises because the times at which the pulsar emission beam points towards the observer varies with precession phase; and (ii) the spin-down contribution, which arises from any dependence of the spin-down torque acting on the pulsar on the angle between its spin     and magnetic     axes. We use the data to probe numerous properties of the pulsar, most notably its shape, and the dependence of its spin-down torque on     , for which we assume the sum of a spin-aligned component (with a weight  1 − a   ) and a dipolar component perpendicular to the magnetic beam axis (weight a ), rather than the vacuum dipole torque  ( a = 1)  . We find that a variety of shapes are consistent with the residuals, with a slight statistical preference for a prolate star. Moreover, a range of torque possibilities fit the data equally well, with no strong preference for the vacuum model. In the case of a prolate star, we find evidence for an angle-dependent spin-down torque. Our results show that the combination of geometrical and spin-down effects associated with precession can account for the principal features of the timing behaviour of PSR B1828−11, without fine tuning of the parameters.     

HESS J1616−508: likely to be powered by PSR J1617−5055

HESS J1616−508 is one of the brightest emitters in the TeV sky. Recent observations with the IBIS/ISGRI telescope onboard the INTEGRAL spacecraft have revealed that a young, nearby and energetic pulsar, PSR J1617−5055, is a powerful emitter of soft γ-rays in the 20–100 keV domain. In this paper, we present an analysis of all available data from the INTEGRAL , Swift , BeppoSAX and XMM–Newton telescopes with a view to assessing the most likely counterpart to the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) source. We find that the energy source that fuels the X/γ-ray emissions is derived from the pulsar, both on the basis of the positional morphology, the timing evidence and the energetics of the system. Likewise the 1.2 per cent of the pulsar's spin-down energy loss needed to power the 0.1–10 TeV emission is also fully consistent with other HESS sources known to be associated with pulsars. The relative sizes of the X/γ-ray and very high energy sources are consistent with the expected lifetimes against synchrotron and Compton losses for a single source of parent electrons emitted from the pulsar. We find that no other known object in the vicinity could be reasonably considered as a plausible counterpart to the HESS source. We conclude that there is good evidence to assume that the HESS J1616−508 source is driven by PSR J1617−5055 in which a combination of synchrotron and inverse-Compton processes combine to create the observed morphology of a broad-band emitter from keV to TeV energies.     

Pulsar slow glitches in a solid quark star model

A series of five unusual slow glitches of the radio pulsar B1822–09 (PSR J1825–0935) was observed between 1995 and 2005. This is a phenomenon that is understood in a solid quark star model, and reasonable parameters for slow glitches are given in this paper. We propose that, because of increasing shear stress as the pulsar spins down, a slow glitch may occur, beginning with the collapse of a superficial layer of the quark star. This layer of material turns to viscous fluid at first, the viscosity of which helps to deplete the energy released from both the accumulated elastic energy and the gravitation potential. There is then a slow glitch. Numerical calculations show that the slow glitches that have been observed could be reproduced if the effective coefficient of viscosity is ∼10² cm² s⁻¹ and the initial velocity of the superficial layer is of the order of 10⁻¹⁰ cm s⁻¹ in the coordinate rotating frame of the star.     

Observations of six glitches in PSR B1737−30

Six glitches have been recently observed in the rotational frequency of the young pulsar PSR B1737−30 (J1740−3015) using the 25-m Nanshan telescope of Urumqi Observatory. With a total of 20 glitches in 20 yr, it is one of the most frequently glitching pulsars of the ∼1750 known pulsars. Glitch amplitudes are very variable with fractional increases in rotation rate ranging from 10⁻⁹ to 10⁻⁶. Interglitch intervals are also very variable, but no relationship is observed between interval and the size of the preceding glitch. There is a persistent increase in     , opposite in sign to that expected from slowdown with a positive braking index, which may result from changes in the effective magnetic dipole moment of the star during the glitch.     

Chandra monitoring of the candidate anomalous X-ray pulsar AX J1845.0-0258

The population of clearly identified anomalous X-ray pulsars has recently grown to seven, however, one candidate anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) still eludes re-confirmation. Here, we present a set of seven Chandra ACIS-S observations of the transient pulsar AX J1845.0-0258, obtained during 2003. Our observations reveal a faint X-ray point source within the ASCA error circle of AX J1845.0-0258’s discovery, which we designate CXOU J184454.6-025653 and tentatively identify as the quiescent AXP. Its spectrum is well described by an absorbed single-component blackbody (kT∼2.0 keV) or power law (Γ∼1.0) that is steady in flux on timescales of at least months, but fainter than AX J1845.0-0258 was during its 1993 period of X-ray enhancement by at least a factor of 13. Compared to the outburst spectrum of AX J1845.0-0258, CXOU J184454.6-025653 is considerably harder: if truly the counterpart, then its spectral behavior is contrary to that seen in the established transient AXP XTE J1810-197, which softened from kT∼0.67 keV to ∼0.18 keV in quiescence. This unexpected result prompts us to examine the possibility that we have observed an unrelated source, and we discuss the implications for AXPs, and magnetars in general.      

New phase-coherent measurements of pulsar braking indices

Pulsar braking indices offer insight into the physics that underlies pulsar spin-down. Only five braking indices have been measured via phase-coherent timing; all measured values are less than 3, the value expected from magnetic dipole radiation. Here we present new measurements for three of the five pulsar braking indices, obtained with phase-coherent timing for PSRs J1846-0258 (n=2.65±0.01), B1509-58 (n=2.839±0.001) and B0540-69 (n=2.140±0.009). We discuss the implications of these results and possible physical explanations for them.      

Precision timing measurements of PSR J1012+5307

We present results and applications of high-precision timing measurements of the binary millisecond pulsar J1012+5307. Combining our radio timing measurements with results based on optical observations, we derive complete 3D velocity information for this system. Correcting for Doppler effects, we derive the intrinsic spin parameters of this pulsar and a characteristic age of 8.6±1.9 Gyr . Our upper limit for the orbital eccentricity of only 8×10⁻⁷ (68 per cent confidence level) is the smallest ever measured for a binary system. We demonstrate that this makes the pulsar an ideal laboratory in which to test certain aspects of alternative theories of gravitation. Our precision measurements suggest deviations from a simple pulsar spin-down timing model, which are consistent with timing noise and the extrapolation of the known behaviour of slowly rotating pulsars.     

Limits on radio emission from pulsar wind nebulae

We report on a sensitive survey for radio pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) towards 27 energetic and/or high-velocity pulsars. Observations were carried out at 1.4 GHz using the Very Large Array and the Australia Telescope Compact Array and utilized pulsar-gating to search for off-pulse emission. These observing parameters resulted in a considerably more sensitive search than previous surveys and could detect PWN over a much wider range of spatial scales (and hence ambient densities and pulsar velocities). However, no emission clearly corresponding to a PWN was discovered. Based on these non-detections we argue that the young and energetic pulsars in our sample have winds which are typical of young pulsars, but produce unobservable PWN because they reside in low-density ( n ∼0.003 cm⁻³) regions of the interstellar medium. However, non-detection of PWN around older and less energetic pulsars can only be explained if the radio luminosity of their winds is less than 10⁻⁵ of their spin-down luminosity, implying an efficiency at least an order of magnitude smaller than that seen for young pulsars.     

Statistical studies of pulsar glitches

Shemar & Lyne have previously presented observations and an analysis of 32 glitches and their subsequent relaxations observed in a total of 15 pulsars. These data are brought together in this paper with those published by other authors. We show quantitatively how glitch activity decreases linearly with decreasing rate of slow-down. As indicated previously from studies of the Vela pulsar, the analysis suggests that 1.7 per cent of the moment of inertia of a typical neutron star is normally contained in pinned superfluid which releases its excess angular momentum at the time of a glitch. There is a broad range of glitch amplitude and there is a strong indication that pulsars with large magnetic fields suffer many small glitches while others show a smaller number of large glitches. Transient effects following glitches are very marked in young pulsars and decrease linearly with decreasing rate of slow-down, suggesting that the amount of loosely pinned superfluid decreases with age. We suggest that the low braking index of the Vela and Crab pulsars cannot be caused by a decreasing moment of inertia and should be attributed to step increases in the effective magnetic moment of the neutron star at the glitches.     

The Parkes Southern Pulsar Survey — III. Timing of long-period pulsars

The Parkes survey of the entire southern sky for millisecond and other low-luminosity pulsars has now been completed. The survey system and initial results were described by Manchester et al. and the final results and population studies are described by Lyne et al. A total of 298 pulsars were detected, including 101 new discoveries of which 17 were millisecond pulsars. Here we report on timing observations at Parkes and Jodrell Bank of the 84 long-period (non-millisecond) pulsars discovered in the survey, including timing solutions for 78 of them. Pulse profiles and arrival times were obtained at several different frequencies over intervals of more than a year, yielding a position, period, period derivative and dispersion measure for each pulsar. Pulse profiles at frequencies near 400 MHz and 600 or 1400 MHz are presented for most of the observed pulsars. Significant timing noise was detected for five pulsars and a glitch was observed in the period of PSR J1123–6259.