BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A group of Chinese researchers has revealed a pulsar that can simultaneously exhibit three key emission variability phenomena, overturning the previous observations that pulsars showed only one or two kinds of radiation variations, according to a research article recently published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Coded PSRJ0846-3533, the pulsar had not been subject to comprehensive and systematic observational analysis prior to this study. The researchers from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences used ultra-wideband observations from the Australian Parkes 64-meter radio telescope to collect and analyze tens of thousands of single-pulse signals.
They confirmed that three key emission variability phenomena coexisting in this pulsar: intermittent nulling, mode switching, and periodic amplitude modulation.
It can temporarily cease its radio emission, much like a lighthouse briefly extinguishing its beam. Its pulse profile can also switch rapidly between shapes: in its normal state, the trailing component of the pulse is brighter, whereas after switching, the central component becomes significantly enhanced.
In addition, the brightness of the pulsar exhibits stable periodic fluctuations, completing one full cycle of variation every two rotational periods, a feature consistently detected in two observational epochs separated by three years.
Mode switching and nulling arise from large-scale magnetospheric current rearrangements, while the periodic amplitude modulation reflects recurrent reconfiguration of particle acceleration and plasma emission efficiency, said Wen Zhigang, a researcher at the XAO.
By studying and analyzing the neutron star's extreme magnetic field environment from multiple perspectives, the researchers have also provided critical observational support for unifying models of pulsar magnetospheric dynamics. ■
