Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

The Vela pulsar: an unprecedented view from Fermi

Massimiliano Razzano
P. Bruel, A. K. Harding, G. Pivato on behalf of the Fermi-LAT Collaboration

Abstract:

The Vela pulsar (PSR J0835-4510) is the brightest persistent source in the GeV sky, and the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard Fermi has so far characterized this pulsar with unparalleled precision. The quality of these results is now further improved thanks to Pass 8, the new event reconstruction and selection strategy developed by the Fermi LAT Collaboration. We will report on the most recent results on the Vela pulsar, whose exquisite quality benefits both from a larger dataset and the new Pass 8 performance. They include an highly-detailed characterization of the light curve at different energies, as well as a spectrum that extends to lower and higher energy than before. These results are the most detailed that have been obtained so far on a gamma-ray pulsar and are crucial to better constrain theoretical models and provide a more detailed insight into the physics of pulsar magnetosphere.