Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0612109

From: Jean Eilek [view email]

Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 21:39:19 GMT (28kb)

Echoes of Giant Pulses from the Crab Pulsar

Authors: J. H. Crossley, J. A. Eilek, T. H. Hankins

Comments: to appear in proceedings of "Small Ionized and Neutral Structures in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium". 4 pages, 1 figure

We have detected occasional, short-lived ``echoes'' of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar. These echo events remind us of previously reported echoes from this pulsar, but they differ significantly in detail. Our echo events last at most only a few days; the echo emission lags the primary emission by only 40-100 musec. The echoes are consistently weaker and broader than the primary emission, and appear only at the lower of our two simultaneous observing frequencies. We suggest that these echoes are created by refraction in small plasma structures -- plasma clouds or magnetic flux ropes -- deep within the Crab nebula. If this is true, our echoes provide a new probe of small-scale structures within the inner synchrotron nebula.

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0612109