EI2GYB > ASTRO 27.11.25 13:00l 55 Lines 4735 Bytes #200 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Astronomers investigate nearby pulsar with radio telescopes
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Astronomers investigate nearby pulsar with radio telescopes
Using the Large Phased Array (LPA) and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), astronomers from Russia and China have observed a nearby pulsar designated PSR J1951+2837. The new observations, presented Nov. 18 on the pre-print server arXiv, deliver important insights into the nature of this pulsar.
Pulsars are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars emitting a beam of electromagnetic radiation. They are usually detected in the form of short bursts of radio emission; however, some of them are also observed via optical, X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes.
Nearby and not so fast
PSR J1951+2837 is a pulsar with a relatively long period of approximately 7.33 seconds, discovered in 2024 with LPA. It has a dispersion measure of 3.5 pc/cm3 and is estimated to be located some 650-1,000 light years away.
A team of astronomers led by Tatiana V. Smirnova of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory decided to further observe PSR J1951+2837 with LPA at the frequency of 110 MHz and to explore it with FAST at 1,250 MHz.
"Naturally, PSR J1951+2837 falls into one of the LPA beams every day, and the LPA records data of PSR J1951+2837 daily at a frequency of 110.4 MHz, (...) The sky region around the initial position of PSR J1951+2837 has been observed twice by FAST with the 19-beam L-band receiver by using first the snapshot observation mode on June 3, 2023, and then by the tracking mode for 15 minutes on July 25, 2024, after the pulses from this pulsar have been detected," the scientists explain.
Is PSR J1951+2837 a new RRAT?
The observations performed by Smirnova's team detected 343 pulses in 228 LPA sessions and five bright pulses in two FAST sessions. The times of arrival (TOAs) of these bright pulses allowed the astronomers to determine the coherent timing solution for PSR J1951+2837 at 110 MHz.
In particular, it turned out that during the 280-second observation session, only four strong pulses were detected from 38 periods. From the 900-second data, only eight strong pulses were identified from 121 periods.
Therefore, in general, the emission features of PSR J1951+2837 are consistent with those of rotating radio transients (RRATs), which are a subclass of pulsars characterized by sporadic emission, with frequencies varying from several minutes to several hours. They are assumed to be ordinary pulsars that experience strong pulses.
Faint with highly polarized pulses
Furthermore, the observations found that the luminosity of PSR J1951+2837 at 110 MHz is at a level of 0.48 mJy kpc2. This is the lowest luminosity among any known pulsars.
The study also found that the pulses of PSR J1951+2837 are highly polarized, and determined that the Faraday rotation of this pulsar is ?2.2 rad/m2. The spectral index of PSR J1951+2837 was measured to be about 2.9 in the range of 110-1,250 MHz, and its dispersion measure was constrained to be 2.9 pc/cm3.
More info at :
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-astronomers-nearby-pulsar-radio-telescopes.html
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