Dual-frequency single-pulse study of PSR B0950+08

Bilous, A. V.; Grießmeier, J. M.; Pennucci, T.; Wu, Z.; Bondonneau, L.; Kondratiev, V.; Van Leeuwen, J.; Maan, Y.; Connor, L.; Oostrum, L. C.; Petroff, E.; Verbiest, J. P.W.; Vohl, D.; Mckee, J. W.; Shaifullah, G.; Theureau, G.; Ulyanov, O. M.; Cecconi, B.; Coolen, A. H.; Corbel, S.; Damstra, S.; Dénes, H.; Girard, J. N.; Hut, B.; Ivashina, M.; Konovalenko, O. O.; Kutkin, A.; Loose, G. M.; Mulder, H.; Ruiter, M.; Smits, R.; Tokarsky, P. L.; Vermaas, N. J.; Zakharenko, V. V.; Zarka, P.; Ziemke, J.

Abstract

PSR B0950+08 is a bright nonrecycled pulsar whose single-pulse fluence variability is reportedly large. Based on observations at two widely separated frequencies, 55 MHz (NenuFAR) and 1.4 GHz (Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope), we review the properties of these single pulses. We conclude that they are more similar to ordinary pulses of radio emission than to a special kind of short and bright giant pulses, observed from only a handful of pulsars. We argue that a temporal variation of the properties of the interstellar medium along the line of sight to this nearby pulsar, namely the fluctuating size of the decorrelation bandwidth of diffractive scintillation makes an important contribution to the observed single-pulse fluence variability. We further present interesting structures in the low-frequency single-pulse spectra that resemble the "sad trombones"seen in fast radio bursts (FRBs); although for PSR B0950+08 the upward frequency drift is also routinely present. We explain these spectral features with radius-to-frequency mapping, similar to the model developed by Wang et al. (2019, ApJ, 876, L15) for FRBs. Finally, we speculate that μs-scale fluence variability of the general pulsar population remains poorly known, and that its further study may bring important clues about the nature of FRBs.

Citation

Bilous, A. V., Grießmeier, J. M., Pennucci, T., Wu, Z., Bondonneau, L., Kondratiev, V., …Ziemke, J. (2022). Dual-frequency single-pulse study of PSR B0950+08. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 658, Article A143. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142242

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 4, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 11, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-02
• Deposit Date: Nov 29, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 14, 2022
• Journal: Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Print ISSN: 0004-6361
• Electronic ISSN: 1432-0746
• Publisher: EDP Sciences
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 658
• Article Number: A143
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142242
• Keywords: Stars: neutron
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4134706
• Related Public URLs: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.08500