Orbital dynamics and extreme scattering event properties from long-term scintillation observations of PSR J1603-7202

TL;DR

This study models long-term scintillation variations of pulsar PSR J1603-7202 to understand orbital dynamics and interstellar scattering, providing new constraints on the pulsar's orbit and companion mass through scintillation analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a scintillation model that constrains orbital parameters and interstellar medium properties, improving upon previous pulsar timing measurements.

Findings

Scintillation arc curvature varies with time and is modeled by an anisotropic plasma screen.

The model yields the orbit's inclination angle and ascending node, refining pulsar system parameters.

Extreme scattering events correlate with increased electron column density and pronounced scintillation arcs.

Abstract

We model long-term variations in the scintillation of binary pulsar PSR J1603$-$7202, observed by the 64 m Parkes radio telescope (Murriyang) between 2004 and 2016. We find that the time variation in the scintillation arc curvature is well-modelled by scattering from an anisotropic thin screen of plasma between the Earth and the pulsar. Using our scintillation model, we measure the inclination angle and longitude of ascending node of the orbit, yielding a significant improvement over the constraints from pulsar timing. From our measurement of the inclination angle, we place a lower bound on the mass of J1603$-$7202's companion of $\gtrsim 0.5\,\text{M}_\odot$ assuming a pulsar mass of $\gtrsim1.2\,\text{M}_\odot$. We find that the scintillation arcs are most pronounced when the electron column density along the line of sight is increased, and that arcs are present during a known extreme scattering event. We measure the distance to the interstellar plasma and its velocity, and we discuss some structures seen in individual scintillation arcs within the context of our model.