| 14th of June 2016 |
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| First pulsar polarisation profiles from the Murchison Widefield Array! |
| by Charlotte Sobey (Curtin University / CASS) |
| Pulsars are rapidly-rotating, highly-magnetised neutron stars. Here, two pulsar's polarised emission has been captured at low radio frequencies using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope (the precursor to the Square Kilometre Array - LOW) at a centre frequency of 185 MHz and using 31 MHz bandwidth. These first preliminary MWA polarisation profiles for PSRs B1857-26 and B0031-07 were obtained during the recent `VCS busy week', and are displayed in the image: the total flux density is shown by the black line, and the linear and circular polarisations are shown by the red and blue lines, respectively, as a function of the rotation period of the pulsar (pulse phase). The black points above show the polarisation angle (P.A.) as a function of pulse phase. Work is ongoing to verify these results. These low-frequency polarisation profiles will be used to study the pulsar emission mechanism and to investigate the Galactic magnetic field. Credit: Charlotte Sobey (CIRA & CASS) & The MWA Voltage Capture System (VCS) Team |