The Infrared to Gamma-Ray Pulse Shape and Emission Mechanism of the Crab Nebula Pulsar
Abstract
We have obtained high time-resolution (20 microsecond) near-infrared (1-2.5 micron) pulse profiles of the Crab Nebula pulsar using a new solid-state photomultiplier (SSPM)-based photometer on the Multiple Mirror Telescope. We augment these data with new analyses of X-ray (ROSAT HRI), gamma-ray (CGRO OSSE), and optical/ultraviolet (HST HSP) data to provide high time-resolution coverage over 7 decades of energy. We analyze the pulse shapes as a function of energy, and compare the results to predictions made by various pulsar emission models, including the 2-gap outer gap, the 1-gap outer gap, and the polar cap models. In particular, we examine the previusly unknown energy-dependent variations within the individual pulse profile peaks (with spectral changes on timescales <180 microseconds), the peak-to-peak phase separations, the global spectra of the various pulse components, and the previously unknown reversal of the shape of Peak 2 between the optical/infrared range and the X-ray/gamma-ray range. We find that while the models can fit the general features seen here, none of them predict many of the detailed phenomena we observe.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 1996
- Bibcode:
- 1996AAS...189.9203E