Detection of giant pulses from the pulsar PSR B1112+50

We detected giant pulses from the pulsar PSR B1112+50. A pulse with an intensity that is a factor of 30 or more higher than the intensity of the average pulse is encountered approximately once in 150 observed pulses. The peak flux density of the strongest pulse is about 180 Jy. This value is a factor of 80 higher than the peak flux density of the average pulse. The giant pulses are narrower than the average profile by approximately a factor of 5 and they cluster about the center of the average profile.     

Detection of giant radio pulses from the pulsar PSR B0656+14

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 and are clustered at the head of the average pulse. PSR B0656+14 along with PSR B0031-07, PSR B1112+50, and PSR J1752+2359 belong to a distinctive group of pulsars in which GPs have been detected without any extremely strong magnetic field on the light cylinder.     

Giant pulses from the millisecond pulsar PSR B1937+214

We have detected giant pulses from the millisecond pulsar PSR B1937+214 at the lowest frequency of 112 MHz. The observed flux density at the pulse peak is ～40 000 Jy, which exceeds the average level by a factor of 600. Pulses of such intensity occur about once per 300 000 periods. The brightness temperature of the observed giant pulses is T _B≈10³⁵ K. We estimated the pulse broadening by interstellar scattering to be τ_sc=3–10 ms. Based on this estimate and on published high-frequency measurements of this parameter, we determined the frequency dependence of the pulse broadening by scattering: τ_sc(f)=25 × (f/100)^?4.0±02.     

PSR B1237+25的强脉冲辐射特性的观测与研究

强脉冲是一种特殊的单脉冲辐射,表现为较强的射电爆发.利用新疆天文台南山25 m射电望远镜研究了PSR B1237+25的强脉冲辐射特性.发现探测到的793个强脉冲出现在积分轮廓的所有辐射成分中,峰值流量密度是平均脉冲的10.2至82.5倍.用对数正态分布对强脉冲的峰值流量密度比、信噪比和脉冲宽度的分布进行了拟合.在15...     

A search for giant pulses in Vela-like pulsars

We have carried out a survey for 'giant pulses' in six young, Vela-like pulsars. In no cases did we find single pulses with flux densities more than 10 times the mean flux density. However, in PSR  B1706–44  we have detected giant micro-pulses very similar to those seen in the Vela pulsar. In PSR  B1706–44  these giant micro-pulses appear on the trailing edge of the profile and have an intrinsic width of ∼1 ms. The cumulative probability distribution of their intensities is best described by a power law. If the power law continues to higher intensities, then  3.7×10⁶  rotations are required to obtain a pulse with 20× the mean pulse flux. This number is similar to the giant pulse rate in PSR B1937+21 and PSR  B1821–24  but significantly higher than that for the Crab.     

Millisecond pulsar radiation properties

Two investigations of millisecond pulsar radiation are discussed: average total intensity pulse morphology and individual pulse to pulse fluctuations. The average emission profiles of millisecond pulsars are compared with those of slower pulsars in the context of polar cap models. In general the full widths of pulsar emission regions continue to widen inversely with periodP as P^-(0.30-0.5) as expected for dipole polar cap models. Many pulse components are very narrow. The period scaling of pulsar profiles -separations and widths -can tell us about the angular distribution of radiating currents. An investigation of individual pulses from two millisecond pulsars at 430 MHz shows erratic pulse to pulse variations similar to that seen in slow pulsars. PSR B1937+21 displays occasional strong pulses that are located in the trailing edge of the average profile with relative flux densities in the range of 100 to 400. These are similar to the giant pulses seen in the Crab pulsar.     

The X-ray pulse profile of BG CMi

We present an analysis of the X-ray data of a magnetic cataclysmic variable, BG CMi, obtained with ROSAT in March 1992 and with ASCA in April 1996. We show that four peaks clearly exist in the X-ray pulse profile, unlike a single peak found in the optical profile. The fluxes of two major pulses are 2–5 times larger than those of two minor pulses. The fraction of the total pulsed flux increases from 51% to 85% with increasing energy in 0.1–2.0 keV, whereas it decreases from 96% to 22% in 0.8–10 keV. We discuss the implications of our findings for the origin of the pulse profile and its energy dependence.     

Strong pulses from pulsar PSR J0034-0721

We present an analysis of strong single pulses from PSR J0034-0721. Our observations were made using the Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at a radio frequency of 1.54GHz. A total of 353 strong pulses were detected during eight hours of observing. The signal-to-noise ratios of the detected pulses range from 5 to 11.5. The peak fluxes of those pulses are 17 to 39 times that of the average pulse peak. The cumulative distribution of the signal-to-noise ratios of these strong pulses has a rough power-law distribution...     

An Observational Study of the Strong Single Pulses of PSR J0034-0721

Using the 25m radio telescope of the Urumqi Observatory, the strong single pulses of the pulsar PSR J0034-0721 were observed at 1.54 GHz on 6th Aug. 2007. With the technique of single-pulse detection, 116 single pulses with the signal-to-noise ratios of R_SN≥5 were detected from the observed data of 1 h. At 1.54 GHz, the signal-to-noise ratios of the detected single pulses are in the range from 5 to 10.5, and the peak flux densities of these pulses are approximately 14∼29 times that of the average pulse (AP), much less than the ratios between the intensities of typical giant pulses and the intensity of AP. The cumulative distribution of the intensities of these pulses is basically a powerlaw distribution with the spectral index α = −4.3 ± 0.4. The detection rates for the pulses of R_SN≥5 and R_SN≥10 are 3% and 0.08%, respectively. For these pulses, the half-peak width W₅₀ ranges from 1.6 ms to 8 ms, 3.9 ms in average. The phases of the vast majority of the strong single pulses are concentrated around the peak position of AP, but 2 strong pulses of R_SN≥8.5 are detected at the phases about 33 ms earlier than the phase of the AP peak. This implies that there probably exist two emission regions of strong pulses, and this is consistent with the previously observed results at 40 MHz and 111 MHz, except that at 1.54 GHz the profile of AP exhibits only one component.     

Statistical Properties of the Highest Pulses in Gamma-Ray Bursts

We study the statistical properties of the highest pulses within individual gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). A wavelet package analysis technique and a developed pulse-finding algorithm have been applied to identify the highest pulses from burst profiles observed by BATSE on board CGRO from 1991 April 21 to 1999 January 26. The statistical light curves of the highest pulses in four energy channels have been derived by an aligning method, which illustrate the temporal evolution of the pulse emission. Our result that narrower pulses go with higher energies is consistent with previous findings. By normalizing both the pulse durations and counts to unity, “characteristic” profiles of the highest pulses in the four channels are also derived. The four characteristic profiles are turned out to be almost the same, thus strongly support the previous conclusion that the temporal profiles in different energy channels are self-similar and the previous conjecture on GRB pulses, implying that the emission process is similar at different energies. The cosmological time dilation effect is examined by investigating the relationship between the pulse flux and pulse duration. An anti-correlation between the two was found, which agrees with the expectation of the cosmological time dilation effect. Also, the evolution of the pulse duration with the observational epoch is studied. The result shows that the pulse duration tends to be shorter in later epochs. This trend cannot be explained by the present theoretical models, and may represent a great challenge to current theories.     

Maximum flux density of the gyrosynchrotron spectrum in a nonuniform source

The maximum flux density of a gyrosynchrotron radiation spectrum in a mag- netic dip|oe model with self absorption and gyroresonance is calculated. Our calculations show that the maximum flux density of the gyrosynchrotron spectrum increases with in- creasing low-energy cutoff, number density, input depth of energetic electrons, magnetic field strength and viewing angle, and with decreasing energy spectral index of energetic electrons, number density and temperature of thermal electrons. It is found that there are linear correlations between the logarithms of the maximum flux density and the above eight parameters with correlation coefficients higher than 0.91 and fit accuracies better than 10%. The maximum flux density could be a good indicator of the changes of these source parameters. In addition, we find that there are very good positive linear correla- tions between the logarithms of the maximum flux density and peak frequency when the above former five parameters vary respectively. Their linear correlation coefficients are higher than 0.90 and the fit accuracies are better than 0.5%.     

Solar microwave bursts recorded at 2.84 GHz with millisecond time resolution

A millisecond recorder for solar observation at 2.84 GHz was put to work in 1981. From April 1981 to September 1982 it recorded 250spike pulse events, which are here listed together with information on the associated solar flares, hard X-ray bursts and radio bursts. In defining these spike events, particular attention has been paid to ensure the reliability of the recorded data. Statistical analysis of the data has given some interesting results. The spike pulses have shorter duration and higher flux density than were previously known, and the basic units of the spike pulse events are single spike pulses crowded together forming separate clusters. Many spike pulses observed are not yet resolved at 1 ms. Fast spike pulse events are closely correlated with complex magnetic field regions, and are often accompanied by hard X-ray bursts and fast drifting radio bursts. Some such events showed no correspondence with the radio bursts at the same frequency, 2.84 GHz, but corresponded to those occurring at dm and short cm wavelengths. Some theoretical investigations of the spike phonomena have been carried out, the details of which will be discussed elsewhere.     

Observations of Giant Pulses of the Crab Pulsar

The Crab Pulsar was observed at 1540 MHz with the 25m radio telescope at Urumqi with a filterbank de-dispersion backend. A total of 2436 giant pulses with pulse energies larger than 4300 Jy μs were detected in two observing sets. All of these giant pulses are located in the main pulse (MP) and inter pulse (IP) windows of the average profile of the Crab Pulsar. The ratio of the numbers of giant pulses detected in the IP and MP windows is about 0.05. Our results show that, at 1540 MHz, the emission in the IP is contributed by giant and normal pulses, while that in the MP is almost dominated by giant pulses. The distribution of energy of the 2436 giant pulses at 1540 MHz can be described by a power-law with index α=3.13±0.09. The intrinsic threshold of giant pulse energy in the MP window is about 1400 Jy μs at 1540 MHz.     

GRB 090618: different pulse temporal and spectral characteristics within a burst

GRB 090618 was simultaneously detected by Swift-BAT and Fermi-GBM. Its light curve shows two emission episodes consisting of four prominent pulses. The pulse in the first episode (episode A) has a smoother morphology than the three pulses in the second episode (episode B). Using the pulse peak-fit method, we have performed a detailed analysis of the temporal and spectral characteristics of these four pulses and found out that the first pulse (pulse A) exhibits distinctly different properties than the others in episode B (pulses B1, B2 and B3) in the following aspects. (i) Both the pulse width (w) and the rise-to-decay ratio of pulse (r/d, pulse asymmetry) in GRB 090618 are found to be energy-dependent. The indices of the power-law correlation between w and E for the pulses in episode B however are larger than that in episode A. Moreover the pulses B1, B2 and B3 tend to be more symmetric at the higher energy bands while the pulse A displays a reverse trend. (ii) Pulse A shows a hard-to-soft spectral evolution pattern, while the three pulses in the episode B follow the light curve trend. (iii) Pulse A has a longer lag than the pulses B1, B2 and B3. The mechanism which causes the different pulse characteristics within one single GRB is unclear.     

Polarization observations of giant radio pulses from the millisecond pulsar B1937+21 at a frequency of 600 MHz

We performed polarization observations of giant radio pulses from the millisecond pulsar B1937+21. The observations were carried out in July 2002 with the 64-m Kalyazin radio telescope at a frequency of 600 MHz in two polarization channels with left-and right-hand circular polarizations (RCP and LCP). We used the S2 data acquisition system with a time resolution of 125 ns. The duration of an observing session was 20 min. We detected twelve giant radio pulses with peak flux densities higher than 1000 Jy; five and seven of these pulses appeared in the RCP and LCP channels, respectively. We found no event that exceeded the established detection threshold simultaneously in the two polarization channels. Thus, we may conclude that the detected giant pulses have a high degree of circular polarization, with the frequency of occurrence of RCP and LCP pulses being the same.     

Model of photoelectron impact ionization within the high latitude ionosphere at Mars: Comparison of calculated and measured electron density

The production rate, ion density and electron density are calculated between longitudes 0° and 360° E due to incident radiation of wavelength range 1-102.57 nm in the dayside atmosphere of Mars. These calculations are made by using global analytical yield spectrum (AYS) model at solar zenith angle 80° between latitudes 50° and 70° N for spring equinox and medium solar activity condition. These conditions are appropriate for Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Phase 2 aerobraking period during which both the accelerometer and the radio occultation data are used. The calculated results are compared with MGS radio occultation measurements carried out at different latitudes (64.7°-67.3° N) and longitudes (0°-360° E) in December 1998 between solar zenith angle 78° and 81°. This measurement shows primary and secondary ionization peaks, which are varying with longitudes. Our calculation suggests that first peak is produced by photoionization and photoelectron impact ionization processes due to absorption of solar EUV radiation (9-102.57 nm). The second peak is produced by photoelectron impact ionization of soft X-ray photon (1-9 nm). There is a good agreement between our calculation and measurement as far as the maximum and the minimum values of primary peak altitude/peak density of electrons are concerned. However, the calculated values of secondary peak density and peak altitude are higher than the measured values by a factor of 1.5-2.0 and 1.1, respectively. The secondary peak is brought into agreement with the measurement using low X-ray flux by a factor of 2 to 3 below 9 nm. The longitudinal distribution of calculated and measured peak density and peak altitude are fitted by least-square method with 0.95 confidence limits.     

Echo I: An experimental analysis of local effects and conjugate return echoes from an electron beam injected into the magnetosphere by a sounding rocket

On 13 August 1970, a sounding rocket carrying a high voltage electron accelerator and several electron detectors was launched from Wallops Island, Virginia. 16 msec long, 70 mA pulses were injected into the magnetosphere at pitch angles near 90°. In each pulse the electron energy was modulated between 35 and 43 keV. The electrons were trapped in the Earth's magnetic field and bounced between the northern and southern conjugate points with a period of ～0.65 sec and drifted eastward with a gradient-curvature drift velocity of ～765 m/sec. For about 90 seconds the rocket intercepted the returning echoes. Careful study of the rocket trajectory has allowed a partial space-time picture of an echo to be constructed. The bounce time and drift velocity observations are consistent with predictions based on internal magnetic field models with no electric fields. The flux has the spatial variations predicted by atmospheric scattering models at the southern conjugate point but is about a factor of 10 too low. After some injections delayed echoes are observed, apparently 40 keV electrons whose bounce time has been increased by ～75 msec, but with no change in their bounce averaged drift velocity. Study of detector response during gun pulses revealed three unexplained features: (1) a field aligned upward moving flux after downward injections; (2) a downward moving, time dependent, flux after injections at some upward pitch angles; (3) a lack of altitude (or atmospheric density) dependence on observed count rates.     

Relationships between Relative Spectral Lags and Relative Widths of Gamma-ray Bursts

The phenomenon of gamma-ray burst (GRB) spectral lags is very common, but a definitive explanation has not yet been given. From a sample of 82 GRB pulses we find that the spectral lags are correlated with the pulse widths, however, there is no correlation be- tween the relative spectral lags and the relative pulse widths. We suspect that the correlations between spectral lags and pulse widths might be caused by the Lorentz factor of the GRBs concerned. Our analysis on the relative quantities suggests that the intrinsic spectral lag might reflect other aspect of pulses than the aspect associated with the dynamical time of shocks or that associated with the time delay due to the curvature effect.     

Angular momentum alignment of dark matter haloes

In the three years following the discovery of PSR J2051−0827, we have observed a large number of eclipse traverses over a wide frequency range. These data show that the pulsar usually undergoes complete eclipse at frequencies below 1 GHz. At higher frequencies the pulsar is often detected throughout this low-frequency eclipse region with pulse times of arrival being significantly delayed relative to the best-fitting timing model. Variability in the magnitude of the delay is clearly seen and occurs on time-scales shorter than the orbital period. Simultaneous dual frequency observations highlight the difference in the eclipse behaviour for two widely separated frequencies. The low-frequency eclipses are accompanied by a significant decrease in pulsed flux density, while the flux density variations during higher frequency eclipses are not well defined. We consider a number of eclipse mechanisms and find that scattering and cyclotron absorption in the magnetosphere of the companion are consistent with the phenomena presented here.