A new model for the emission geometry in PSR 0950+08

Abstract

It is proposed that the angle between the magnetic and rotation axes in PSR 0950+08 is small, that the hollow radiation beam is highly elongated in the north-south direction (referred to the rotation axis) and extends beyond the rotation pole, and that the line of sight to earth, which passes between the magnetic and rotation axes, intersects the same beam twice, on either side of the rotation pole, to produce the main and interpulse. The model fits the observed polarization angle variation well and explains most of the puzzling features noted in the interpulse. The geometry is distinctly different from that commonly invoked for double component pulsars.