The effect of the Solar wind on low-frequency observations of pulsars

TL;DR

This study uses data from six LOFAR stations observing over 100 pulsars weekly for four years to analyze the impact of the Solar wind on low-frequency pulsar observations, focusing on plasma and magnetic field variations.

Contribution

It presents the first results from a Solar wind monitoring campaign using a novel high-cadence pulsar observation approach with multiple LOFAR stations.

Findings

Initial insights into Solar wind effects on pulsar signals

Characterization of electron density variations in interplanetary space

Detection of magnetic field influences on pulsar scintillation

Abstract

We operate the six German stations of the LOw Frequency ARray as standalone telescopes to observe more than 100 pulsars every week. To date, we have collected almost four years of high-quality data at an unprecedented weekly cadence. This allows us to perform a wide variety of analyses aimed at characterising the magnetoionic plasma crossed by pulsar radiation. In particular, our studies are focused on electron density variations in the interstellar and interplanetary media, the Galactic and interplanetary magnetic field, scintillation, and extreme scattering events. Here we report the first results from our Solar wind monitoring campaign.