Small glitches and other rotational irregularities of the Vela pulsar

Understand

Glitches are sudden increases in the rotation rate $\nu$ of neutron stars, which are thought to be driven by the neutron superfluid inside the star.

• The Vela pulsar presents a comparatively high rate of glitches, with 21 events reported since observations began in 1968.
• These are amongst the largest known glitches (17 of them have sizes $\Delta\nu/\nu\geq10^{-6}$) and exhibit very similar characteristics.
• This similarity, combined with the regularity with which large glitches occur, has turned Vela into an archetype of this type of glitching behaviour.