Pulsars identified in the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey at 144 MHz

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Hauptverfasser: Rijkers, G. A. C., Bassa, C. G., Callingham, J. R., Shimwell, T.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Rijkers, G. A. C.
Bassa, C. G.
Callingham, J. R.
Shimwell, T.
author_facet Rijkers, G. A. C.
Bassa, C. G.
Callingham, J. R.
Shimwell, T.
contents We present the astrometric identification of 80 known radio pulsars as unresolved continuum sources detected at 144 MHz in the second data release of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS DR2), which covers 27% of the Northern hemisphere. These identifications represent the majority ($\geq$ 86%) of radio pulsars present in the LoTSS DR2 footprint and provide independent celestial positions and flux densities at 144 MHz. We compare LoTSS flux densities with literature values from various image and time-domain observations and find good agreement for all but two pulsars. We attribute these flux density deviations to intrinsic pulsar properties (nulling and off-pulse emission). We investigate criteria to select promising pulsar candidates using data from the upcoming LoTSS release of the entire Northern sky ($δ>0^\circ$), as well as the LOFAR LBA Sky Survey (LoLSS) at 54 MHz (covering $δ>24^\circ$). Of the 80 detections, 35 (44%) were blindly redetected based on their linear or circular polarization. Therefore we conclude that candidate selection based on polarization properties is a promising approach. Candidate selection can be supplemented with spectral indices via cross-matching to LoLSS sources at 54 MHz, as the high sensitivity of LoTSS is not matched by image-domain surveys at higher frequencies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_08663
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Pulsars identified in the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey at 144 MHz
Rijkers, G. A. C.
Bassa, C. G.
Callingham, J. R.
Shimwell, T.
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present the astrometric identification of 80 known radio pulsars as unresolved continuum sources detected at 144 MHz in the second data release of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS DR2), which covers 27% of the Northern hemisphere. These identifications represent the majority ($\geq$ 86%) of radio pulsars present in the LoTSS DR2 footprint and provide independent celestial positions and flux densities at 144 MHz. We compare LoTSS flux densities with literature values from various image and time-domain observations and find good agreement for all but two pulsars. We attribute these flux density deviations to intrinsic pulsar properties (nulling and off-pulse emission). We investigate criteria to select promising pulsar candidates using data from the upcoming LoTSS release of the entire Northern sky ($δ>0^\circ$), as well as the LOFAR LBA Sky Survey (LoLSS) at 54 MHz (covering $δ>24^\circ$). Of the 80 detections, 35 (44%) were blindly redetected based on their linear or circular polarization. Therefore we conclude that candidate selection based on polarization properties is a promising approach. Candidate selection can be supplemented with spectral indices via cross-matching to LoLSS sources at 54 MHz, as the high sensitivity of LoTSS is not matched by image-domain surveys at higher frequencies.
title Pulsars identified in the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey at 144 MHz
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.08663