Radio Pulses along the Galactic Plane

Abstract

We have surveyed 68 deg^2 alongthe Galactic plane for single, dispersed radio pulses. Each of 3027independent pointings was observed for 68 s using the Arecibo telescope at430 MHz. Spectra were collected at intervals of 0.5 ms and examinedfor pulses with duration 0.5-8 ms. Such single-pulse analysis isthe most sensitive method of detecting highly scattered or highlydispersed signals from pulsars with large pulse-to-pulse intensityvariations. A total of 36 individual pulses from five previously knownpulsars were detected, along with a single pulse not associated with apreviously known source. Follow-up observations discovered a pulsar, PSRJ1918+08, from which the pulse originated. This pulsar has a period of2.130 s and a dispersion measure of 30 pc cm^-3, and it has been seento emit single pulses with strength up to 8 times the average.