Pulsars are the astrophysical equivalent of lighthouses. Rapidly spinning balls of neutrons emitting a beam of radiation. Their initial discovery was made through the detection of radio pulses. So, naively it was thought that all pulsars would be detected with radio telescopes. However, the Fermi satellite has recently reported the discovery of a number of pulsars that are seen in gamma rays but display no sign of radio pulsations. Our contribution to this research came nine years ago, when we found that the pulsar in the upper left corner J1836+5925 was indeed radio quiet. This discovery supported the notion that a larger group of radio quiet pulsars would eventually be found by Fermi. Through further studies of these objects we hope to discover why certain pulsars remain radio quiet. Stay tuned.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Radio quiet
Pulsars are the astrophysical equivalent of lighthouses. Rapidly spinning balls of neutrons emitting a beam of radiation. Their initial discovery was made through the detection of radio pulses. So, naively it was thought that all pulsars would be detected with radio telescopes. However, the Fermi satellite has recently reported the discovery of a number of pulsars that are seen in gamma rays but display no sign of radio pulsations. Our contribution to this research came nine years ago, when we found that the pulsar in the upper left corner J1836+5925 was indeed radio quiet. This discovery supported the notion that a larger group of radio quiet pulsars would eventually be found by Fermi. Through further studies of these objects we hope to discover why certain pulsars remain radio quiet. Stay tuned.
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