Timing and scintillation observations of the fast pulsar in CTB80

Abstract

Shortly after the discovery1 of a 39.5-ms pulsar in the supernova remnant CTB 80, we began a series of timing measurements at the Arecibo Observatory to obtain more accurate values for the period and dispersion measure and to determine the period derivative and scintillation parameters. Data acquired over a span of 11 days yielded a surprisingly small period derivative, Ṗ = (5.92 ± 0.06) x 10− 15 s s− 1. If the pulsar slows by magnetic dipole radiation, this spin-down rate implies a surface field strength of only 5 x 1011 gauss yet the pulsar is believed to be much too young for its magnetic field to have decayed. Scintillation observations reveal unusually rapid fluctuations, indicating a large pulsar transverse velocity. Here we describe the timing and scintillation measurements and their results, and briefly explore some astrophysical consequences.