2006/11/14 by A. Lommen, A. N. Lommen, Jennifer L. Donovan +15 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/510797
published as Astrophys.J.657:436-440,2007 · 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ
arxiv created 2006/11/14 · openalex publication_date 2007/03/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We report the results of simultaneous observations of the Vela pulsar in X-rays and radio from the RXTE satellite and the Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory in Tasmania. We sought correlations between Vela's X-ray emission and radio arrival times on a pulse-by-pulse basis. At a confidence level of 99.8% we have found significantly higher flux density in Vela's main X-ray peak during radio pulses that arrived early. This excess flux shifts to the "trough" following the second X-ray peak during radio pulses that arrive later. Our results suggest that the mechanism producing the radio pulses is intimately connected to the mechanism producing X-rays. Current models using resonant absorption of radio emission in the outer magnetosphere as a cause of the X-ray emission are explored as a possible explanation for the correlation.