Subpulse drifting, nulling, and mode changing in PSR J2006 - 0807 with core emission

Abstract

We report a detailed analysis of the emission behaviour of the five component, core-double cone, pulsar J2006$-$0807 (B2003$-$08). The single pulses revealed the presence of the three major phenomena of subpulse drifting, nulling and mode changing. The pulsar switched between four different emission modes, two of which showed systematic drifting with prominent drift bands, and were classified as modes A and B respectively. The drifting was seen primarily in the conal components and exhibited the rare phenomenon of bi-drifting, where the drift direction in the second component was opposite to the fourth component. This made PSR J2006$-$0807 the only known example where systematic drift bands were seen around a central core emission. The emission showed a gradual decrease in intensity during mode A which stabilised to a relatively constant level in the subsequent mode B. The presence of a low frequency, weak and wide structure in the fluctuation spectra was also seen primarily in the core component during modes A and B. The core component vanished during mode C and was most prominent during the fourth mode D. Both these modes were frequently interspersed with null pulses. No detectable drifting was seen during modes C and D, but the pulsar showed short duration periodic nulling in the core as well as the conal components. In addition to the four emission modes the pulsar also nulled for long durations lasting up to hundred rotation periods.