Abstract
We describe an image-based method that uses two radio criteria, compactness, and spectral index, to identify promising pulsar candidates among Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) unassociated ...sources. These criteria are applied to those radio sources from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope all-sky survey at 150 MHz (TGSS ADR1) found within the error ellipses of unassociated sources from the 3FGL catalogue and a preliminary source list based on 7 yr of LAT data. After follow-up interferometric observations to identify extended or variable sources, a list of 16 compact, steep-spectrum candidates is generated. An ongoing search for pulsations in these candidates, in gamma rays and radio, has found 6 ms pulsars and one normal pulsar. A comparison of this method with existing selection criteria based on gamma-ray spectral and variability properties suggests that the pulsar discovery space using Fermi may be larger than previously thought. Radio imaging is a hitherto underutilized source selection method that can be used, as with other multiwavelength techniques, in the search for Fermi pulsars.
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Carrier-based dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulations need to be accurately characterised for their particle size distributions, surface roughnesses, fines contents and flow properties. ...Understanding the micro-structure of the powder formulation is crucial, yet current characterisation methods give incomplete information. Commonly used techniques like laser diffraction (LD) and optical microscopy (OM) are limited due to the assumption of sphericity and can give variable results depending on particle orientation and dispersion. The aim of this work was to develop new three dimensional (3D) powder analytical techniques using X-ray computed tomography (XCT) that could be employed for non-destructive metrology of inhaled formulations. α-lactose monohydrate powders with different characteristics have been analysed, and their size and shape (sphericity/aspect ratio) distributions compared with results from LD and OM. The three techniques were shown to produce comparable size distributions, while the different shape distributions from XCT and OM highlight the difference between 2D and 3D imaging. The effect of micro-structure on flowability was also analysed through 3D measurements of void volume and tap density. This study has demonstrated for the first time that XCT provides an invaluable, non-destructive and analytical approach to obtain number- and volume-based particle size distributions of DPI formulations in 3D space, and for unique 3D characterisation of powder micro-structure.
Spatial extension is an important characteristic for correctly associating gamma-ray-emitting sources with their counterparts at other wavelengths and for obtaining an unbiased model of their ...spectra. We present a new method for quantifying the spatial extension of sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT), the primary science instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi). We perform a series of Monte Carlo simulations to validate this tool and calculate the LAT threshold for detecting the spatial extension of sources. We then test all sources in the second Fermi-LAT catalog for extension. We report the detection of seven new spatially extended sources.
The second catalog of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) in two years of scientific operation is presented. The second LAT AGN catalog (2LAC) includes 1017 ...Delta *g-ray sources located at high Galactic latitudes (|b| > 10?) that are detected with a test statistic (TS) greater than 25 and associated statistically with AGNs. However, some of these are affected by analysis issues and some are associated with multiple AGNs. Consequently, we define a Clean Sample which includes 886 AGNs, comprising 395 BL Lacertae objects (BL Lac objects), 310 flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), 157 candidate blazars of unknown type (i.e., with broadband blazar characteristics but with no optical spectral measurement yet), 8 misaligned AGNs, 4 narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1s), 10 AGNs of other types, and 2 starburst galaxies. Where possible, the blazars have been further classified based on their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) as archival radio, optical, and X-ray data permit. While almost all FSRQs have a synchrotron-peak frequency <1014 Hz, about half of the BL Lac objects have a synchrotron-peak frequency >1015 Hz. The 2LAC represents a significant improvement relative to the first LAT AGN catalog (1LAC), with 52% more associated sources. The full characterization of the newly detected sources will require more broadband data. Various properties, such as Delta *g-ray fluxes and photon power-law spectral indices, redshifts, Delta *g-ray luminosities, variability, and archival radio luminosities and their correlations are presented and discussed for the different blazar classes. The general trends observed in 1LAC are confirmed.
We report on the timing observations of the millisecond pulsar PSR J2055+3829 originally discovered as part of the SPAN512 survey conducted with the Nançay Radio Telescope. The pulsar has a ...rotational period of 2.089 ms and is in a tight 3.1 h orbit around a very low mass (0.023 ≤ mc ≲ 0.053 M⊙, 90% c.l.) companion. Our 1.4 GHz observations reveal the presence of eclipses of the radio signal of the pulsar, caused by the outflow of material from the companion, for a few minutes around superior conjunction of the pulsar. The very low companion mass, the observation of radio eclipses, and the detection of time variations of the orbital period establish PSR J2055+3829 as a “black widow” (BW) pulsar. Inspection of the radio signal from the pulsar during ingress and egress phases shows that the eclipses in PSR J2055+3829 are asymmetric and variable, as is commonly observed in other similar systems. More generally, the orbital properties of the new pulsar are found to be very similar to those of other known eclipsing BW pulsars. No gamma-ray source has been detected at the location of the pulsar in recent Fermi-LAT source catalogs. We used the timing ephemeris to search ten years of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data for gamma-ray pulsations, but were unable to detect any. This non-detection could be a consequence of the large distance of the pulsar compared to those of known gamma-ray millisecond pulsars outside of globular clusters. We finally compared the mass functions of eclipsing and non-eclipsing BW pulsars and confirmed previous findings that eclipsing BWs have higher mass functions than their non-eclipsing counterparts. Larger inclinations could explain the higher mass functions of eclipsing BWs. On the other hand, the mass function distributions of Galactic disk and globular cluster BWs appear to be consistent, suggesting, despite the very different environments, the existence of common mechanisms taking place in the last stages of evolution of BWs.
We report the discovery of PSR J0952−0607, a 707 Hz binary millisecond pulsar that is now the fastest-spinning neutron star known in the Galactic field (i.e., outside of a globular cluster). PSR ...J0952−0607 was found using LOFAR at a central observing frequency of 135 MHz, well below the 300 MHz to 3 GHz frequencies typically used in pulsar searches. The discovery is part of an ongoing LOFAR survey targeting unassociated Fermi-Large Area Telescope γ-ray sources. PSR J0952−0607 is in a 6.42 hr orbit around a very low-mass companion ( ), and we identify a strongly variable optical source, modulated at the orbital period of the pulsar, as the binary companion. The light curve of the companion varies by 1.6 mag from at maximum to , indicating that it is irradiated by the pulsar wind. Swift observations place a 3 upper limit on the X-ray luminosity of erg s−1 (using the 0.97 kpc distance inferred from the dispersion measure). Though no eclipses of the radio pulsar are observed, the properties of the system classify it as a black widow binary. The radio pulsed spectrum of PSR J0952−0607, as determined through flux density measurements at 150 and 350 MHz, is extremely steep with (where ). We discuss the growing evidence that the fastest-spinning radio pulsars have exceptionally steep radio spectra, as well as the prospects for finding more sources like PSR J0952−0607.
We investigate the use of optical photometric variability to select and identify blazars in large-scale time-domain surveys, in part to aid in the identification of blazar counterparts to the ~30% of ...gamma -ray sources in the Fermi 2FGL catalog still lacking reliable associations. To test the efficacy of this approach, we apply this method to optically variable LINEAR objects that fall within the several-arcminute error ellipses of gamma -ray sources in the Fermi 2FGL catalog. We find that the suggested radio counterpart to Fermi source 2FGL J1649.6+5238 has optical variability consistent with other gamma -ray blazars and is likely to be the gamma -ray source. Our results suggest that the variability of the non-thermal jet emission in blazars is stochastic in nature, with unique variability properties due to the effects of relativistic beaming. The variability-based selection method presented will be useful for blazar identification in time-domain optical surveys and is also a probe of jet physics.
Pulsars are rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron stars emitting radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum. Although there are more than 1800 known radio pulsars, until recently only seven ...were observed to pulse in gamma rays, and these were all discovered at other wavelengths. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) makes it possible to pinpoint neutron stars through their gamma-ray pulsations. We report the detection of 16 gamma-ray pulsars in blind frequency searches using the LAT. Most of these pulsars are coincident with previously unidentified gamma-ray sources, and many are associated with supernova remnants. Direct detection of gamma-ray pulsars enables studies of emission mechanisms, population statistics, and the energetics of pulsar wind nebulae and supernova remnants.
The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) First Source Catalog (1FGL) provided spatial, spectral, and temporal properties for a large number of gamma -ray sources using a uniform analysis method. After ...correlating with the most-complete catalogs of source types known to emit gamma rays, 630 of these sources are "unassociated" (i.e., have no obvious counterparts at other wavelengths). Here, we employ two statistical analyses of the primary gamma -ray characteristics for these unassociated sources in an effort to correlate their y-ray properties with the active galactic nucleus (AGN) and pulsar populations in 1FGL. Based on the correlation results, we classify 221 AGN-like and 134 pulsar-like sources in the 1FGL unassociated sources. The results of these source "classifications" appear to match the expected source distributions, especially at high Galactic latitudes. While useful for planning future multiwavelength follow-up observations, these analyses use limited inputs, and their predictions should not be considered equivalent to "probable source classes" for these sources. We discuss multiwavelength results and catalog cross-correlations to date, and provide new source associations for 229 Fermi-LAT sources that had no association listed in the 1FGL catalog. By validating the source classifications against these new associations, we find that the new association matches the predicted source class in ~80% of the sources.
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