Optical pulsars and polarimetry

Abstract

Despite the early optical detection of the Crab pulsar in 1969, optical pulsars have become the poor cousin of the neutron star family. Only five normal pulsars have been observed to pulse in the optical waveband. A further three magnetars/SGRs have been detected in the optical/near IR. Optical pulsars are intrinsically faint with a first order luminosity, predicted by Pacini, to be proportional to P−10, where P is the pulsar’s period. Consequently they require both large telescopes, generally over-subscribed,…