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Published December 16, 1982 | public
Journal Article

A millisecond pulsar

Abstract

The radio properties of 4C21.53 have been an enigma for many years. First, the object displays interplanetary scintillations (IPS) at 81 MHz, indicating structure smaller than 1 arc s, despite its low galactic latitude (−0.3°). IPS modulation is rare at low latitudes because of interstellar angular broadening. Second, the source has an extremely steep (~v^(−2)) spectrum at decametric wavelengths. This combination of properties suggested that 4C21.53 was either an undetected pulsar or a member of some new class of objects. This puzzle may be resolved by the discovery and related observations of a fast pulsar, 1937+214, with a period of 1.558 ms in the constellation Vulpecula only a few degrees from the direction to the original pulsar, 1919+21. The existence of such a fast pulsar with no evidence either of a new formation event or of present energy losses raises new questions about the origin and evolution of pulsars.

Additional Information

© 1982 Nature Publishing Group. Received 22 November; accepted 25 November 1982. We thank the staff of Arecibo Observatory for support and our colleagues for many exciting discussions. This research is supported by grants from the NSF and the Netherlands Foundation for Radio Astronomy. The Arecibo Observatory is part of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center which is operated by Cornell University under contract with NSF.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023