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Mode changing in the Black Widow Pulsar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2018

Nikhil Mahajan
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
Marten van Kerkwijk
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
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Abstract

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Mode changing is a phenomenon where a pulsar’s emission abruptly changes between two or more quasi-stable modes. We have discovered mode changing in the Black Widow Pulsar (PSR B1957+20), a first detection of mode changing in a millisecond pulsar. On average, a mode change occurs every 1.7 seconds. Multiple components across the pulse profile participate in the mode changing, indicating that this is likely caused by a global change in the pulsar’s magnetosphere.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2018 

References

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