gamma-ray pulsars

gamma-ray pulsars

The improved sensitivity of instrumentation on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory has shown that pulsars can be powerful gamma-ray emitters. The gamma radiation is thought to originate in the star's outer magnetosphere, and in some cases it appears that a large fraction of the spin-down energy of the pulsar is emitted as pulsed gamma radiation. Geminga is now known to be a γ-ray pulsar, and, with a 180° phase separation of the two pulses, is thought to be an extreme case; nearly 100% of the available energy is emitted as γ-rays and the dipole magnetic field is inclined at a very large angle (> 65°) to the spin axis.