Open AccessA search for giant pulses in Vela‐like pulsars
Author(s) -
Johnston Simon,
Romani Roger W.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05304.x
Subject(s) - vela , physics , pulsar , astrophysics , flux (metallurgy) , pulse (music) , power law , astronomy , neutron star , millisecond pulsar , trailing edge , optics , statistics , materials science , mathematics , detector , mechanics , metallurgy
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 3.7×10 6 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.