Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/210310

Title

Gamma radiation from PSR B1055-52

Author(s)

Thompson, D. J.;  Bailes, M.;  Bertsch, D. L.;  Cordes, J.;  D'Amico, N.;  Esposito, J. A.;  Finley, J.;  Hartman, R. C.;  Hermsen, W.;  Kanbach, G.;  Kaspi, V. M.;  Kniffen, D. A.;  Kuiper, L.;  Lin, Y. C.;  Lyne, A.;  Manchester, R.;  Matz, S. M.;  Mayer-Hasselwander, H. A.;  Michelson, P. F.;  Nolan, P. L.;  Oegelman, H.;  Pohl, M.;  Ramanamurthy, P. V.;  Sreekumar, P.;  Reimer, O.;  Taylor, J. H.;  Ulmer, M.

Abstract

The telescopes on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) have observed PSR B1055-52 a number of times between 1991 and 1998. From these data a more detailed picture of the gamma radiation from this source has been developed, showing several characteristics that distinguish this pulsar: the light curve is complex; there is no detectable unpulsed emission; the energy spectrum is flat, with no evidence of a sharp high-energy cutoff up to greater than 4 GeV. Comparisons of the gamma-ray data with observations at longer wavelengths show that no two of the known gamma-ray pulsars have quite the same characteristics; this diversity makes interpretation in terms of theoretical models difficult.

Publication type

Journal article

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing

Source

Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 516, no. 1 (May 1999), pp. 297-306

Publication year

1999

FOR Code(s)

0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences;  0305 Organic Chemistry;  0306 Physical Chemistry (Incl. Structural)

Keyword(s)

Gamma rays;  Observations;  PSR B1055-52;  Pulsars

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

ISSN

0004-637X

Publisher URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/307083

Copyright

Copyright © 1999 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. The American Astronomical Society does not allow institutions to archive either the accepted manuscript or the published version of the article. However, you can find an earlier version of the full text here: http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9811219

Peer reviewed