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High-resolution timing observations of spin-powered pulsars with the AGILE gamma-ray telescope

Citation

Pellizzoni, A and Pilia, M and Possenti, A and Fornari, F and Caraveo, P and Del Monte, E and Mereghetti, S and Tavani, M and Argan, A and Trois, A and Burgay, M and Chen, A and Cognard, I and Costa, E and D'Amico, N and Esposito, P and Evangelista, Y and Feroci, M and Fuschino, F and Giuliani, A and Halpern, J and Hobbs, G and Hotan, A and Johnston, S and Kramer, M and Longo, F and Manchester, RN and Marisaldi, M and Palfreyman, J and Weltevrede, P and Barbiellini, G and Boffelli, F and Bulgarelli, A and Cattaneo, PW and Cocco, V and D'Ammando, F and De Paris, G and Di Cocco, G and Donnarumma, I and Fiorini, M and Froysland, T and Galli, M and Gianotti, F and Harding, A and Labanti, C and Lapshov, I and Lazzarotto, F and Lipari, P and Mauri, F and Morselli, A and Pacciani, L and Perotti, F and Picozza, P and Prest, M and Pucella, G and Rapisarda, M and Rappoldi, A and Soffitta, P and Trifoglio, M and Vallazza, E and Vercellone, S and Vittorini, V and Zambra, A and Zanello, D and Pittori, C and Verrecchia, F and Preger, B and Santolamazza, P and Giommi, P and Salotti, L, High-resolution timing observations of spin-powered pulsars with the AGILE gamma-ray telescope, The Astrophysical Journal, 691, (2) pp. 1618-1633. ISSN 0004-637X (2009) [Refereed Article]


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Copyright Statement

Copyright 2009 The American Astronomical Society

DOI: doi:10.1088/0004-637X/691/2/1618

Abstract

Astro-rivelatore Gamma ad Immagini LEggero (AGILE) is a small gamma-ray astronomy satellite mission of the Italian Space Agency dedicated to high-energy astrophysics launched in 2007 April. Its ~ 1 μs absolute time tagging capability coupled with a good sensitivity in the 30 MeV-30 GeV range, with simultaneous X-ray monitoring in the 18-60 keV band, makes it perfectly suited for the study of gamma-ray pulsars following up on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory/EGRET heritage. In this paper, we present the first AGILE timing results on the known gamma-ray pulsars Vela, Crab, Geminga, and B1706 ? 44. The data were collected from 2007 July to 2008 April, exploiting the mission Science Verification Phase, the Instrument Timing Calibration, and the early Observing Pointing Program. Thanks to its large field of view, AGILE collected a large number of gamma-ray photons from these pulsars (~ 10,000 pulsed counts for Vela) in only few months of observations. The coupling of AGILE timing capabilities, simultaneous radio/X-ray monitoring, and new tools aimed at precise photon phasing, also exploiting timing noise correction, unveiled new interesting features at the submillisecond level in the pulsars' high-energy light curves.

Item Details

Item Type:Refereed Article
Keywords:gamma rays, observations - pulsars, general - pulsars, neutron
Research Division:Physical Sciences
Research Group:Astronomical and Space Sciences
Research Field:Cosmology and Extragalactic Astronomy
Objective Division:Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:Expanding Knowledge
Objective Field:Expanding Knowledge in the Physical Sciences
Author:Palfreyman, J (Mr Jim Palfreyman)
ID Code:95636
Year Published:2009
Web of Science® Times Cited:36
Deposited By:Mathematics and Physics
Deposited On:2014-10-06
Last Modified:2014-12-02
Downloads:542 View Download Statistics

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