Almost a decade of pulsar observations below 100 MHz

ORAL

Abstract

Recent advancements in low-frequency radio observations of pulsars are providing new insights into the properties as well as the effect of the interstellar medium. Pulsars are strongly polarized radio sources that probe the density and magnetic field variations along the line of sight to the Earth. For example, one can monitor the effect of the interstellar medium on the pulsar Dispersion Measure (DM) which has an inverse square dependence on the observing frequency, making low-frequency observations preferable for such measurements. The Long Wavelength Array (LWA) has an active pulsar monitoring program, where we regularly observe a set of ~100 pulsars below 100 MHz, studying these effects in time and frequency. Here we present a systematic study of these objects over almost a decade of observations, and what we have learned about the local interstellar medium.

*Construction of the LWA has been supported by the Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-07-C-0147 and by the AFOSR. Support for operations and continuing development of the LWA1 is provided by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Science Foundation under grants AST-1835400 and AGS1708855.

Presenters

  • Pratik Kumar

    • University of New Mexico

Authors

  • Pratik Kumar

    • University of New Mexico
  • Greg B Taylor

    • University of New Mexico
    • UNM
  • Kevin Stovall

    • University of New Mexico
  • Jayce Dowell

    • University of New Mexico
  • Stephen M White

    • AFRL/UNM