Pulsing Prizes

1. Pulsing Prizes By: Kyle Wenger and Megan Weaver, (Broadway High School, Broadway, VA) • How old might they be? • Using the ATNF catalog we have approximated the ages of our pulsars, with the characteristic ages estimated between 600,000 and 199,800,000 years old. From the information we collected, we created a bar graph in Microsoft Excel, which shows that the oldest pulsar, J0944-1354, is around 199 million years old and the youngest pulsar, J1846+0051 is around 600,000 years old. • Where Are They? • The furthest pulsar from our Earth is J1848+0051, which is 4.1 Kpc away and closer to the galactic south pole than us; the closest pulsar J0152-1637and is 0.1 Kpc away (as displayed in Figure-3). • Introduction: • For this poster, we analyzed the data compiled from our pointings, successfully identifying eighteen known pulsars. We identified their distances from the sun, what type of pulsars we found, the pulse width and their characteristic ages. • Pulsars are dense neutron stars which give off radio frequency signals, which we observe as radio pulses. They weigh more than our sun and produce radio beams that sweep across the sky like the light from a lighthouse. We can collect and convert these signals into data using high-powered radio telescopes and specialized software. Method: As we analyzed our known pulsar’s single and prepfold plots, we organized the graphs into groups based on Pulsar Name, then used the DM checker to determine their distance from the sun. We then looked up the various coordinates in the ATNF catalog, using the data listed to ascertain the provided period (P0), P-dot (P1), galactic latitude, galactic longitude, and the distance in Kpc. • Using the equation T= P/2*P1, we calculated the characteristic ages of the known pulsars, from which we created a bar graph using Microsoft Excel. While in Excel, we produced a bar graph to compare the distance of the pulsars to our Earth. We also placed our pulsars, using the P0 and P1, onto a P-dot plot in order to determine the type of pulsars that we had found. To find the pulse width, we multiplied P0 (period) of the pulsar and the pulse phase. We found the pulse phase by measuring the base of the pulse peaks of the pulsars within pointings. Figure 4- Taking the distance in Kpc provided in the ATNF, we made a bar graph comparing the distance of each pulsar from our Sun. Results: After graphing the ages of our known pulsars, we found that the oldest pulsar (J0944-1354), is around 199.8 million years old and the youngest pulsar (J1846+0051), is around 600,000 years old, this pulsar is also the farthest from the Earth. Through plotting our pulsars on the P/P-dot graph, we have come to the conclusion that all of the pulsars we have found are considered Normal Pulsars. Figure 2- This graph represents the characteristic age of our pulsars. The X-Axis is measured in millions of years, and the Y-Axis represents each individual pulsar we have identified. What types are they? • Using the P/P-dot diagram, we used the P0 and P1 to plot our pulsars- successfully creating Figure-1. We concluded from the graph that J1052-1637, J1944-1750, J1651-1709, J0820-1350, and J2346-0609 are common pulsars of a normal characteristic age. With Figure-1 we that assessed J0944-1354 and J1946+1805 are the closest to the graveyard. The pulsars J0944-1354 and J0108-1431 (shown in Figure-3) are the oldest pulsars we have found, and will because of that will be the first to stop radiating radio pulses. Conclusion: By analyzing the pulsars we have found, we have identified eighteen known pulsars. They greatly range in age (from a hundreds of thousands of years old to hundreds of millions of years old), and are greatly dispersed throughout the galaxy. We also noticed a trend in our data, the youngest pulsar (J1846+0051) is also the farthest pulsar from the Earth. The pulsars that we plotted on the P-Pdot diagram are all considered Normal Pulsars. By multiplying the period and pulse phase to find the pulse width we have come to the conclusion that the pulse widths of our pulsars vary greatly. We have found no direct correlation between the pulse width and the other characteristics of the pulsars. Pulse Width: We analyzed the pulse width of our pulsars by multiplying period and pulse phase. The pulse widths of the pulsars are between 0.00434 and 0.03714 seconds; Pulsar J0820-1350 has the greatest pulse width (0.03714) and Pulsar J1846+0052 has the smallest pulse width (0.00434). Figure 3- By graphing our pulsars on the P/P-dot diagram, we have identified the type of pulsars we found. 2 References: • 1 Lorimer, Duncan Ross, and Michael Kramer. Handbook of Pulsar Astronomy. New York: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print. 2 “The Milky Way Galaxy Annotated.” Fine Art America. Web. 09 May 2012. http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-milky-way-galaxy-annotated-stocktrek-images.html Acknowledgements: • We would like to thank everyone at the Pulsar Search Collaboratory; and a special thank you to Mr. Kohrsfor taking time out of his busy schedule to mentor us. Figure-1 indicates the pulse width of the pulsars we have found, the pulse widths vary greatly between 0.00434 and 0.03714