The Pulsar Science Collaboratory: Multi-Epoch Scintillation Studies of Pulsars

TL;DR

This study uses high-cadence, multi-year pulsar observations to analyze interstellar scintillation, revealing new scattering screens, changes in scattering properties over decades, and correlations with dispersion measures, advancing understanding of the ISM.

Contribution

First multi-epoch scintillation analysis of eight pulsars revealing new scattering screens and temporal changes in scattering properties, demonstrating the Green Bank Observatory's capabilities.

Findings

Detection of a new scattering screen toward PSR J1645-0317.

Evidence of a scattering screen within the Orion-Cygnus arm.

Significant decrease in scintillation bandwidth and timescale for PSR J2022+5154 over two decades.

Abstract

We report on findings from scintillation analyses using high-cadence observations of eight canonical pulsars with observing baselines ranging from one to three years. We obtain scintillation bandwidth and timescale measurements for all pulsars in our survey, scintillation arc curvature measurements for four, and detect multiple arcs for two. We find evidence of a previously undocumented scattering screen along the line of sight (LOS) to PSR J1645$-$0317, as well as evidence that a scattering screen along the LOS to PSR J2313$+$4253 may reside somewhere within the Milky Way's Orion-Cygnus arm. We report evidence of a significant change in the scintillation pattern in PSR J2022$+$5154 from the previous two decades of literature, wherein both the scintillation bandwidth and timescale decreased by an order of magnitude relative to earlier observations at the same frequencies, potentially as a result of a different screen dominating the observed scattering. By augmenting the results of previous studies, we find general agreement with estimations of scattering delays from pulsar observations and predictions by the NE2001 electron density model but not for the newest data we have collected, providing some evidence of changes in the ISM along various LOSs over the timespans considered. In a similar manner, we find additional evidence of a correlation between a pulsar's dispersion measure and the overall variability of its scattering delays over time. The plethora of interesting science obtained through these observations demonstrates the capabilities of the Green Bank Observatory's 20m telescope to contribute to pulsar-based studies of the interstellar medium.