New Features of the Pulsar B0950+08 Radiation at the Frequency of 111 MHz

Abstract

Results of long time observations of the pulsar B0950+08 are given. These observations were carried out at the LPA radio telescope at the frequency of 111 MHz from January of 2016 to May of 2019 (450 days). A strong variability in emission of this pulsar has been detected with changes in signal to noise ratios hundreds of times. Part of the long-time flux density variability can be explained by refractive scintillations in the interstellar medium. The existence of radiation between the interpulse (IP) and main pulse (MP) was confirmed. It was more powerful than at high frequencies. We detected the unusual IP and precursor (Pr) radiation on 2017 August 1. On the basis of 65 strong IPs we found the correlations between energies of IP and Pr and between the phase of IP and the distance Pr–IP. It is shown that the observed peculiarities of this pulsar can be explained in the frame of the aligned rotator model. We estimated distances of radiation levels from the center of the neutron star. The calculated value of the initial period of 0.2 s means that not all pulsars are born with millisecond periods. The large age of the pulsar (6.8 million years) and the small angle between its magnetic moment and the rotation axis (less than 20°) confirm the suggestion related to pulsar evolution with respect to alignment.