Can we see pulsars around Sgr A*? - The latest searches with the Effelsberg telescope

Abstract

Radio pulsars in relativistic binary systems are unique tools to study the curved space-time around massive compact objects. The discovery of a pulsar closely orbiting the super-massive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy, Sgr A*, would provide a superb test-bed for gravitational physics. To date, the absence of any radio pulsar discoveries within a few arc minutes of Sgr A* has been explained by one principal factor: extreme scattering of radio waves caused by inhomogeneities in the ionized component of the interstellar medium in the central 100 pc around Sgr A*. Scattering, which causes temporal broadening of pulses, can only be mitigated by observing at higher frequencies. Here we describe recent searches of the Galactic centre region performed at a frequency of 18.95 GHz with the Effelsberg radio telescope.

3 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of IAUS 291 "Neutron Stars and Pulsars: Challenges and Opportunities after 80 years", 2012

References in corpus (3)

• Prospects for Probing the Spacetime of Sgr A* with Pulsars
• Multiwavelength Constraints on Pulsar Populations in the Galactic Center
• Discovery of two pulsars towards the Galactic Centre

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Multi-epoch searches for relativistic binary pulsars and fast transients in the Galactic Centre
• Testing space-time geometries and theories of gravity at the Galactic Center with pulsar's time delay
• Relativistic time delay analysis of pulsar signals near ultra-compact objects
• Timing Gravity with Pulsars in the Strong Field