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Originally published in Science Express on 23 February 2006
Science 28 April 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5773, pp. 549 - 551
DOI: 10.1126/science.1124060
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Reports

A Periodically Active Pulsar Giving Insight into Magnetospheric Physics

M. Kramer, A. G. Lyne, J. T. O'Brien, C. A. Jordan, D. R. Lorimer

PSR B1931+24 (J1933+2421) behaves as an ordinary isolated radio pulsar during active phases that are 5 to 10 days long. However, when the radio emission ceases, it switches off in less than 10 seconds and remains undetectable for the next 25 to 35 days, then switches on again. This pattern repeats quasi-periodically. The origin of this behavior is unclear. Even more remarkably, the pulsar rotation slows down 50% faster when it is on than when it is off. This indicates a massive increase in magnetospheric currents when the pulsar switches on, proving that pulsar wind plays a substantial role in pulsar spin-down. This allows us, for the first time, to estimate the magnetospheric currents in a pulsar magnetosphere during the occurrence of radio emission.

Jodrell Bank Observatory, University of Manchester, Macclesfield, SK11 9DL, UK.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)