Pulsar B0531 + 21 in the Crab Nebula

Abstract

The Crab Nebula and its pulsar PSR B0531 + 21 is the space laboratory for the study of fundamental physical processes. From the beginning of the current century up to date, the giant pulses of the pulsar in the Crab Nebula are regularly observed on the Large Phased Array of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory of the Lebedev Physical Institute at a frequency 111 MHz. The connection between the scattering time scale of radio pulses and the dispersion measure of the pulsar, which was established earlier together with Jodrell Bank, is confirmed. The observed variations in the scattering of radio pulses and their partial correlation with the dispersion measure are explained by the eclipse of the pulsar by dense plasma clouds with fluctuations in the electron density significantly exceeding the corresponding fluctuations in the interstellar medium. The question of a possible connection between period failers (glitches), dispersion measure variations, radio pulses scattering and gamma-ray flares is discussed.