The probability of finding a
(or higher) pixel in a
map with Gaussian noise is
2.7 10-3. About 5 WENSS FWHM beams
fit into a 5
5 pixel box. Fifty-one boxes were
searched. Effectively, 255 trials have been performed. The binomial
probability that one
pixel is found is 0.35, the
probability that two are found is 0.12 and that three are found is
0.03. Therefore, there is a 50 percent probability that (at least) one
of our 14 marginal detection is just a noise fluctuation.
The maps of the marginal detections are shown in Fig. 6.
The location of the pixel with maximum
flux density is
also indicated. The shapes of these sources is not as point-like as
the strong detections with
.
The flux densities of the
marginal detections are listed in Table 3,
together with an estimate of the pulsar flux density based on a similar
extrapolation of the pulsar spectrum as done in Sect. 3.2.
The estimate for PSR J1518+4904 is
based on its measured flux density at 370 MHz (Sayer et al. 1997), since its spectrum as
plotted by Kramer et al. (1999) shows evidence for a
low frequency turnover.
The ratios of the extrapolated pulsar flux density and the WENSS source flux density are displayed in Fig. 4. The spread is of the order of a factor 1.5, which is comparable with the spread for the detected sources that were discussed in the previous section. Five sources were detected, although their expected flux density was below three times the local noise level (see Table 3). The flux density at 325 MHz could not be estimated for three other pulsars, since no reliable flux density data at other frequencies were available.
The contours of four pulsars are confused by nearby radio sources. These sources are discussed in the following and are shown in Fig. 7.
PSR B0655+64: the WENSS source and the pulsar position are
4.3
apart. The estimated flux density of the pulsar at 325 MHz is
mJy, but the WENSS source is
mJy. Also, the NVSS
(see Sect. 7) shows a radio source at the WENSS
position and clearly away from the pulsar position. Its flux density at 1400 MHz
is about 5.6 mJy, while the pulsar flux density is expected to be
mJy. The pulsar has a proper motion, but it is small and
directed towards negative declinations.
PSR B1112+50: The WENSS source is bright (135 mJy) and has an
accurate position. The separation between the fitted WENSS position
and the known pulsar position is .
Extrapolation of the
pulsar spectrum results in an estimated flux density at 325 MHz of
mJy, much less than that of the WENSS source.
Kaplan et al. (1998) and Han & Tian (1999) searched the NVSS for
pulsar counterparts and also noted that the pulsar is confused by a
strong NVSS source 12
away.
PSR B1951+32: The coincident source in the WENSS catalog is
marked as extended and the emission is dominated by the supernova
remnant CTB80. The pulsar is associated with this remnant
(Strom 1987; Kulkarni et al. 1988). The WENSS peak
flux density is 983 mJy, which is about a factor 70 stronger than the expected
pulsar flux density.
![]() |
PSR B2306+55: It can be clearly seen in the map that this
source has two components, of which the weaker one is probably the
counterpart to the pulsar. This component is not listed in the WENSS
source list. The estimated pulsar flux density is about mJy. The
bright component of the WENSS source is
mJy, separated
from the pulsar position. The second component has
a flux density of approximately 24 mJy.
In all these four cases I conclude that the source in the WENSS catalog and the pulsar are unrelated. Galama et al. (1997) reached the same conclusion for PSR B0655+64.
Copyright The European Southern Observatory (ESO)