New Pulsar Discovered! J2136-1612

1. New Pulsar Discovered! J2136-1612 David Dunkum Spring Valley High School Huntington, WV Abstract: Upon searching the PSC database, a new pointing was determined to be a very good candidate for a positive pulsar identification. The designation was J2136-1612. Upon review of the ATNF catalogue and the European Pulsar Network, it was also determined to be a possible new pulsar. Later confirmation was received utilizing the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) confirming the positive identity of the new pulsar. After confirmation was received, all plots related to the pulsar, both prepfold and single pulse, were reviewed and analyzed with hopes of adding additional information to the new pulsar. With the information from the original plots and that of confirmation plots, the calculation of important details about the pulsar, such as distance from Earth, galactic coordinates, electrical field, and approximate age for the pulsar, was performed. It is right here! Data Analysis: Analysis and calculation of several aspects of this pulsar (J2136-1612) have come back with plenty of information. First, evaluation of the plots on the pulsar to find its DM (The dispersion of electrons from the radio source or Dispersion Measure) which is about 17.494 pc cm -3. With its DM (which is measured in parsecs per cubic centimeter), calculation of its approximate distance by using this simple formula: Distance= DM / average electron density When inserted, the DM with the average electron density of the area of the galaxy, the pulsar comes out to be about 0.789 kpc (kilo parsecs) which is also about 2603.7 lightyears, which is approximately 15272512680000000 miles, or 1.53 x 1016 miles. With the distance calculated, it was needed to convert the RA (Right Ascension) and the Dec (Declination) into galactic coordinates to get an idea as to where it was located. Conversion of the RA and Dec into the coordinates was needed to locate the pulsar accurately. When it is converted, it comes out as LII (longitude) = 36.0610 and BII (latitude) = -43.5993. With that combined with the distance, you can get a fairly accurate location as to where the pulsar is located in our galaxy. Now, to find the characteristic age of the pulsar, it was needed to first determine its period (speed of rotation) and its P-dot (the rate at which it slows down its rotation in seconds). This information was available from the plots of the pulsar. With that data, calculation of the characteristic age was determined using the following formula: Τc≡ P/2 P-dot ≃ 15.8 Myr (P/s)(P-dot/10-15)-1 (P=1227.2433 ms) (P-dot=6.871 X 10-11) When all variables were inserted, the characteristic age of the pulsar is determined to be approximately 282.21 Myr, or 2.82 x 108 yr. This is the original plot that was submitted. It was a very good example of a pulsar while also showing what looks like some RFI in the E-band This is one of the single pulse plots in the same pointing. You can clearly see the pulsar spike on the graphs along with the bit of RFI that was on the prep fold. These are two of the confirmation plots that show a clear pulsar signal along with the bit of RFI in the E-band that was in the original plot.