Refractive interstellar scintillation and millisecond pulsar timing

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (9) References (15) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Refractive Interstellar Scintillation and Millisecond Pulsar Timing Hu, Wayne ; Romani, Roger W. ; Stinebring, Daniel R. Abstract Timing observations of the msec pulsar PSR 1937 + 21 now show significant LF noise. This noise is incompletely removed by a simple dispersion-correcting algorithm based on dual-frequency observations. A two-dimensional simulation of refractive interstellar scintillation propagation effects, with parameters appropriate to the pulsar timing experiment, is developed. These computations show good agreement with a power-law spectrum of interstellar turbulence. Moreover, a second roughly frequency-independent noise component is isolated from the data. This noise, with a very steep red spectrum, may be best explained as irregularities in the pulsar rotation or possibly as signature of a cosmological gravitational-wave background. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: January 1991 DOI: 10.1086/185903 Bibcode: 1991ApJ...366L..33H Keywords: Cosmology; Pulsars; Scintillation; Astronomical Spectroscopy; Gravitational Waves; Interstellar Matter; Power Spectra; Pulse Duration; Turbulence Effects; Astrophysics; INTERSTELLAR: MATTER; PULSARS; STARS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: PSR 1937; 21 full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (2)