Scintillation of PSR B1508+55 – the view from a 10 000-km baseline

Marthi, V. R.; Simard, Dana; Main, Robert; Pen, Ue-Li; Kerkwijk, M. H. van; Vanderlinde, K.; Gupta, Yashwant; Roberts, C.; Quine, Brendan M.

doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1970

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(40 reference statements)

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“…All three frequencies show the presence of the same arc despite the fact that the pulsar has traveled approximately 2900 au transverse to the LoS during this time. Similar flat arclets were recorded by Marthi et al (2021). Low curvature arclets could be due to localized scattering near the pulsar (i.e.…”

Section: Pulsars With a Definite Scintillation Arcsupporting

confidence: 76%

A Scintillation Arc Survey of 22 Pulsars with Low to Moderate Dispersion Measures

Stinebring¹,

Rickett²,

Minter³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Context: By providing information about the location of scattering material along the line of sight (LoS) to pulsars, scintillation arcs are a powerful tool for exploring the distribution of ionized material in the interstellar medium. Here, we present observations that probe the ionized ISM on scales of ∼ 0.001 -30 au. Aims: We have surveyed pulsars for scintillation arcs in a relatively unbiased sample with DM < 100 pc cm −3 . We present multi-frequency observations of 22 low to moderate DM pulsars. Many of the 54 observations were also observed at another frequency within a few days. Methods: For all observations we present dynamic spectra, autocorrelation functions, and secondary spectra. We analyze these data products to obtain scintillation bandwidths, pulse broadening times, and arc curvatures. Results: We detect definite or probable scintillation arcs in 19 of the 22 pulsars and 34 of the 54 observations, showing that scintillation arcs are a prevalent phenomenon. The arcs are better defined in low DM pulsars. We show that well-defined arcs do not directly imply anisotropy of scattering. Only the presence of reverse arclets and a deep valley along the delay axis, which occurs in about 20% of the pulsars in the sample, indicates substantial anisotropy of scattering. Conclusions: The survey demonstrates substantial patchiness of the ionized ISM on both au size scales transverse to the line of sight and on ∼ 100 pc scales along it. We see little evidence for distributed scattering along most lines of sight in the survey.

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Section: Pulsars With a Definite Scintillation Arcsupporting

confidence: 76%

A Scintillation Arc Survey of 22 Pulsars with Low to Moderate Dispersion Measures

Stinebring¹,

Rickett²,

Minter³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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show abstract

Section: Pulsars With a Definite Scintillation Arcsupporting

confidence: 72%

A Scintillation Arc Survey of 22 Pulsars with Low to Moderate Dispersion Measures

Stinebring

Rickett

Minter³

et al. 2022

ApJ

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Context. By providing information about the location of scattering material along the line of sight (LoS) to pulsars, scintillation arcs are a powerful tool for exploring the distribution of ionized material in the interstellar medium (ISM). Here, we present observations that probe the ionized ISM on scales of ∼0.001–30 au. Aims. We have surveyed pulsars for scintillation arcs in a relatively unbiased sample with DM < 100 pc cm−3. We present multifrequency observations of 22 low to moderate DM pulsars. Many of the 54 observations were also observed at another frequency within a few days. Methods. For all observations, we present dynamic spectra, autocorrelation functions, and secondary spectra. We analyze these data products to obtain scintillation bandwidths, pulse broadening times, and arc curvatures. Results. We detect definite or probable scintillation arcs in 19 of the 22 pulsars and 34 of the 54 observations, showing that scintillation arcs are a prevalent phenomenon. The arcs are better defined in low DM pulsars. We show that well-defined arcs do not directly imply anisotropy of scattering. Only the presence of reverse arclets and a deep valley along the delay axis, which occurs in about 20% of the pulsars in the sample, indicates substantial anisotropy of scattering. Conclusions. The survey demonstrates substantial patchiness of the ionized ISM on both astronomical-unit-size scales transverse to the LoS and on ∼100 pc scales along it. We see little evidence for distributed scattering along most lines of sight in the survey.

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“…Generally, DM events are more likely to be detected if the scattering/lensing direction is closely aligned with the pulsar's motion (cf. scattering and proper motion alignment in PSR B1508+55, Wucknitz 2019; Marthi et al 2021).…”

Section: O R Ru G At E D S H E E T M O D E Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profile changes associated with dispersion measure events in PSR J1713+0747

Lin

Main

et al. 2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Propagation effects in the interstellar medium and intrinsic profile changes can cause variability in the timing of pulsars, which limits the accuracy of fundamental science done via pulsar timing. One of the best timing pulsars, PSR J1713+0747, has gone through two ‘dip’ events in its dispersion measure (DM) time series. If these events reflect real changes in electron column density, they should lead to multiple imaging. We show that the events are well fitted by an underdense corrugated sheet model, and look for associated variability in the pulse profile using principal component analysis. We find that there are transient pulse profile variations, but they vary in concert with the DM, unlike what is expected from lensing due to a corrugated sheet. The change is consistent in shape across profiles from both the Green Bank and Arecibo radio observatories, and its amplitude appears to be achromatic across the 820-MHz, 1.4-GHz, and 2.3-GHz bands, again unlike expected from interference between lensed images. This result is puzzling. We note that some of the predicted lensing effects would need higher time and frequency resolution data than used in this analysis. Future events appear likely, and storing baseband data or keeping multiple time–frequency resolutions will allow more in-depth study of propagation effects and hence improvements to pulsar timing accuracy.

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Scintillation of PSR B1508+55 – the view from a 10 000-km baseline

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

A Scintillation Arc Survey of 22 Pulsars with Low to Moderate Dispersion Measures

A Scintillation Arc Survey of 22 Pulsars with Low to Moderate Dispersion Measures

A Scintillation Arc Survey of 22 Pulsars with Low to Moderate Dispersion Measures

Profile changes associated with dispersion measure events in PSR J1713+0747

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