arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Cindy Tam.
We present three new binary pulsars discovered during a search for pulsations in 56 unidentified mid-latitude EGRET gamma-ray error boxes with the Parkes multibeam receiver. Timing observations of these sources is on-going with both the Parkes and the Green Bank telescopes. We discuss the place of these new systems in the population of binary pulsars and suggest that they are all somewhat atypical systems.
We present the results of radio searches for pulsars within unidentified EGRET source error boxes. Using the Parkes multibeam system, we have surveyed 56 sources at Galactic latitudes |b| > 5 deg which do not appear to be associated with blazars. This population has been suggested to be distributed like the local star forming region known as the Gould Belt, the Galactic Halo, and/or the millisecond pulsars. We have discovered several new pulsars in this survey, including three new binary systems.
We compare recent observations of the supernova remnant G11.2-0.3 taken with the VLA during 2001-02 with images from VLA archives (1984-85) to detect and measure the amount of expansion that has occurred during 17 years. The bright, circular outer shell shows a mean expansion of (0.71 +/- 0.15)% and (0.50 +/- 0.17)%, from 20- and 6-cm data, respectively, which corresponds to a rate of 0.057' +/- 0.012'/yr at 20 cm and 0.040' +/- 0.013'/yr at 6 cm. From this result, we estimate the age of the remnant to be roughly between 960 and 3400 years old, according to theoretical models of supernova evolution. This is highly inconsistent with the 24000 yr characteristic age of PSR J1811-1925, located at the remnant's center, but, rather, is consistent with the time since the historical supernova observed in 386 AD. We also predict that G11.2-0.3 is currently in a pre-Sedov evolutionary state, and set constraints on the distance to the remnant based on Chandra X-ray spectral results.
We present a high-resolution radio study of the supernova remnant (SNR) G11.2-0.3 using archival VLA data. Spectral tomography is performed to determine the properties of this composite-type SNR's individual components, which have only recently been distinguished through X-ray observations. Our results indicate that the spectral index of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN), or plerion, is alpha_P ~ 0.25. We observe a spectral index of alpha_S ~ 0.56 throughout most of the SNR shell region, but also detect a gradient in alpha in the south-eastern component. We compare the spectral index and flux density with recent single-dish radio data of the source. Also, the radio efficiency and morphological properties of this PWN are found to be consistent with results for other known PWN systems.