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Solar Coronal Effects on Pulsar Signals

Abstract

THE discovery1 of the southern pulsar PSR 2045-16 suggests the possibility of detecting the influence of the solar corona on pulsar signals, for this pulsar is located only some 1.5° from the ecliptic, and will therefore at the end of January be located within some six solar radii of the solar centre. This letter presents estimates of the influence of the corona on pulsar signals by considering the delay which the corona will produce in the arrival times of the signal pulses, fluctuations in the arrival times of pulses due to statistical inhomogeneities in the coronal electron density, and the temporal “smearing” of pulse structure due to the propagation of waves over different electrical paths. Detection of the first and last of these effects may be possible for PSR 2045-16.

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HOLLWEG, J. Solar Coronal Effects on Pulsar Signals. Nature 220, 771–772 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/220771a0

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