Einstein@Home 'citizen scientists' discover a new pulsar in Arecibo telescope data

Idle computers are the astronomers' playground: Three citizen scientists - a German and an American couple - have discovered a new radio pulsar hidden in data gathered by the Arecibo Observatory. This is the first deep-space discovery by Einstein@Home, which uses donated time from the home and office computers of 250,000 volunteers from 192 different countries. (Science Express, Aug. 12, 2010.)

The citizens credited with the discovery are Chris and Helen Colvin, of Ames, Iowa and Daniel Gebhardt, of Universität Mainz, Musikinformatik, Germany. Their computers, along with 500,000 others from around the world, analyze data for Einstein@Home (on average, donors contribute about two computers each).

Learn more in the press releases and additional information provided below.

Documents

Video and Audio



Low resolution Low quality MPEG4 2 MB Download Low resolution High quality MOV/H264 14 MB Download High resolution Low quality MPEG4 10 MB Download High resolution High quality MOV/H264 58 MB Download

Low resolution Low quality MPEG4 2.5 MB Download Low resolution High quality MOV/H264 13 MB Download High resolution Low quality MPEG4 14 MB Download High resolution High quality MOV/H264 69 MB Download

Listen to the pulsar! Artist's impression of PSR J2007+2722: view from Earth. In the second half of the animation, the rotation (white) and magnetic (yellow) axes and the line of sight (blue dot) are visible. The observed pulse profile is shown below the animation. The radio emission cone shows the beam intensity (yellow ring) explaining the pulse profile.

Copyright: AEI Hannover Artist's impression of PSR J2007+2722, view from the side. In the second half of the animation, the rotation (white) and magnetic (yellow) axes and the line of sight (blue arrow) are visible. The observed pulse profile is shown below the animation. The radio emission cone shows the beam intensity (yellow ring) explaining the pulse profile.

Copyright: AEI Hannover The pulsar's radio signal waveform when interpreted as an audio signal.

Copyright: AEI Hannover

Pictures and Figures

Aerial View of Arecibo Observatory, Arecibo, P.R. The facility is owned by the National Science Foundation and managed by Cornell University.

Copyright: Cornell University Einstein@Home discovery plot. (Left) significance as a function of DM and spin frequency (all E@H results for the discovery beam). (Right) the pulse profile at 1.5 GHz (GBT). The bar illustrates the extent of the pulse.

Copyright: AEI Hannover Position of PSR J2007+2722 (red circle) in the constellation of Vulpecula in the evening sky in August; simulated view of the sky with the naked eye.

Copyright: AEI Hannover, created with Celestia Position of PSR J2007+2722 (red circle) in the constellation of Vulpecula in the evening sky in August; constellations art overlaid for illustrative purposes.

Copyright: AEI Hannover, created with Celestia



all pictures... Close-up of the constellation Vulpecula with the position of PSR J2007+2722 (red circle); simulated view with binoculars.

Copyright: AEI Hannover, created with Celestia The Einstein@Home radio pulsar search screensaver.

Copyright: AEI Hannover Prof. Bruce Allen and graduate student Benjamin Knispel with discovery plot.

Copyright: Thomas Damm / AEI Hannover

Other useful links

Science Contacts

Prof. Dr. Bruce Allen, Director

Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) and

Institute for Gravitational Physics at Leibniz Universität Hannover

Callinstraße 38,

30167 Hannover Germany



or

Prof. Bruce Allen

Physics Department

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

1900 East Kenwood Blvd.

Milwaukee WI 53211 USA



Prof. Jim Cordes

Department of Astronomy

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853 USA



Dr. David Anderson

U.C. Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory

7 Gauss Way

Berkeley, CA 94720



Press Contacts

Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics

(Albert Einstein Institute)

Felicitas Mokler

mokler@aei.mpg.de

+49.511.762.17098



Milde Marketing Science Communication

Susanne Milde

milde@mildemarketing.de

+49.331.583.9355



Arecibo Observatory and

Cornell University

Blaine Friedlander

bpf2@cornell.edu

+1.607.254.8093



University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Laura Hunt

llhunt@uwm.edu

+1.414.229.6447



University of California, Berkeley

Robert Sanders

+1.510.643.6998

rlsanders@berkeley.edu



American Physical Society

James Riordon

+1.301.209.3238

riordon@aps.org



National Science Foundation

Lisa-Joy Zgorski

+1.703.292.8311

lisajoy@nsf.gov



