Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2016
Pulsars are unique astronomical objects in that their emission is in the form of a periodic pulse train. For most pulsars the pulse duty cycle is small, only a few per cent of the period. The shapes and intensities of individual pulses are in general quite variable. This is illustrated in Figure 1 which shows a series of individual pulses from PSR 1133 + 16. Despite this variation in shape of individual pulses, it is found that the mean or integrated pulse profile obtained by adding many pulses synchronously with the period is in most cases stable in shape.