VLT polarimetry observations of the middle-aged pulsar PSR B0656+14
Journal
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
•
Moran, P.
•
Shearer, A.
•
•
Słowikowska, A.
•
Rudak, B.
•
Krzeszowski, K.
•
Kanbach, G.
Description
This work is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend and colleague, Prof. Janusz Gil. We are indebted to S. Bagnulo and A. Stinton for their help in the observations planning and data analysis. R.P.M. thanks the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) for their support under grant agreement No. 267251. P.M. is grateful for his funding from the Irish Research Council (IRC). B.R. acknowledges support by the National Science Centre grant Dec-2011/02/A/ST9/00256. A.S. and K.K. acknowledge the Polish National Science Centre grant Dec-2011/03/D/ST9/00656. We thank the referee for his/her constructive review of our manuscript.
Abstract
Context. Optical polarisation measurements are key tests for different models of the pulsar magnetosphere. Furthermore, comparing the relative orientation of the phase-averaged linear polarisation direction and the pulsar proper motion vector may unveil a peculiar alignment, clearly seen in the Crab pulsar.
Aims: Our goal is to obtain the first measurement of the phase-averaged optical linear polarisation of the fifth brightest optical pulsar, PSR B0656+14, which also has a precisely measured proper motion, and to verify a possible alignment between the polarisation direction and the proper motion vector.
Methods: We carried out observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to measure the phase-averaged optical polarisation degree (PD) and position angle (PA) of PSR B0656+14.
Results: We measured a PD of 11.9% ± 5.5% and a PA of 125.8° ± 13.2°, measured east of north. Albeit of marginal significance, this is the first measurement of the phase-averaged optical PD for this pulsar. Moreover, we found that the PA of the phase-averaged polarisation vector is close to that of the pulsar proper motion (93.12° ± 0.38°).
Conclusions: Deeper observations are needed to confirm our polarisation measurement of PSR B0656+14, whereas polarisation measurements for more pulsars will better assess possible correlations of the polarisation degree with the pulsar parameters.
Aims: Our goal is to obtain the first measurement of the phase-averaged optical linear polarisation of the fifth brightest optical pulsar, PSR B0656+14, which also has a precisely measured proper motion, and to verify a possible alignment between the polarisation direction and the proper motion vector.
Methods: We carried out observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to measure the phase-averaged optical polarisation degree (PD) and position angle (PA) of PSR B0656+14.
Results: We measured a PD of 11.9% ± 5.5% and a PA of 125.8° ± 13.2°, measured east of north. Albeit of marginal significance, this is the first measurement of the phase-averaged optical PD for this pulsar. Moreover, we found that the PA of the phase-averaged polarisation vector is close to that of the pulsar proper motion (93.12° ± 0.38°).
Conclusions: Deeper observations are needed to confirm our polarisation measurement of PSR B0656+14, whereas polarisation measurements for more pulsars will better assess possible correlations of the polarisation degree with the pulsar parameters.
Based on observations collected at ESO, Paranal, under Programme 090.D-0106(A).
Volume
583
Start page
A105
Issn Identifier
0004-6361
Ads BibCode
2015A&A...583A.105M
Rights
open.access
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
1510.01057.pdf
Description
preprint
Size
161.27 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
49c3d91b7f260a0f47b463dddbb86fd2
Loading...
Name
aa27082-15.pdf
Description
PDF editoriale
Size
216.31 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
1cde9154b780f6b19378853220ec6aa3