Change in the pulse component separation for PSR J1906+0746

G. Desvignes (1) , Ismaël Cognard (1) , M. Kramer (2) , A. Lyne (2) , B. Stappers (3) , Gilles Theureau (1, 4)

1 LPCE - Laboratoire de physique et chimie de l'environnement
2 University of Manchester [Manchester]
3 ASTRON - Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
4 GEPI - Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique, Instrumentation

PSR J1906+0746 is a highly relativistic binary pulsar, discovered with the P-ALFA survey in June 2005 [4]. Within a such system, it is expected to observe geodetic precession with a high precession rate. Possible first signs of pulse profile evolution were observed using archival data of the Parkes MultiBeam Survey and by Kasian et al. [3]. By combining the data from the Nangay and Jodrell Bank Radiotelescopes, we report on the clear detection of pulse profiles changes, a shift between both components of the pulse at a rate of 2.1 degrees +/- 0.1 degrees per year. However, only a marginal variation in the relative amplitude was found. We also noticed variations in the slope of the Polarisation Position Angle and in the circular polarisation in the main pulse area, using Nangay polarimetric data.

Keywords: pulsars; binary; geodetic precession; polarisation; polarisation PACS: 9760Gb

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

G. Desvignes, Ismaël Cognard, M. Kramer, A. Lyne, B. Stappers, et al.. Change in the pulse component separation for PSR J1906+0746. 40 YEARS OF PULSARS: Millisecond Pulsars, Magnetars and More, Aug 2007, Montréal, Canada. pp.482, ⟨10.1063/1.2900280⟩. ⟨insu-02778058⟩