Tracking the Footprints of the Radio Pulsar B1727–47: Proper Motion, Host Supernova Remnant, and the Glitches

Abstract

Abstract The bright radio pulsar B1727−47, with a characteristic age of 80 kyr, was among the first pulsars discovered 50 yr ago. Using regular timing observations and its interferometric positions at three epochs, we measured, for the first time, the pulsar proper motion of 151 ± 19 mas yr−1. At the dispersion measure distance of ≳2.7 kpc, this would suggest a record transverse velocity of the pulsar of ≳1900 km s−1. However, a backward extrapolation of the pulsar track to its birth epoch points remarkably close to the center of the evolved nearby supernova remnant RCW 114, which suggests genuine association of the two objects. In this case, the pulsar is substantially closer (∼0.6 kpc) and younger (∼50 kyr), and its velocity (∼400 km s−1) is compatible with the observed pulsar velocity distribution. We also identified two new glitches of the pulsar. We discuss implications of our results for the properties of the pulsar and the remnant.