A (new) Phenomenon in Pulsar Dynamic Spectra

Abstract

Several studies in the last decade have explored dramatic instances of refractive fringing in dynamic spectra. We draw attention to a subtler but more widespread refractive effect: wisp-like structures extending (either linearly or with curvature) outward from the origin in the secondary spectrum plane. We have employed a simple pinhole screen simulation to investigate this phenomenon. It appears that the presence of one or more wisps in a secondary spectrum indicates a clump of scattering material that is significantly offset from the optical axis. Unlike the dramatic fringing events that have been investigated in the past, however, the interference that gives rise to a wisp is interference between rays within a scattering clump rather than between two major ray bundles. Furthermore, the scattering clump must be significantly elongated along the direction of pulsar motion. The range of fringe spacings that this produces, all with a similar slope in the secondary spectrum, gives rise to the linear extent of the wisp in the secondary spectrum.