Flickering of the Vela pulsar during its 2016 glitch

The first pulse-to-pulse observations of a neutron star glitch in the Vela pulsar identified a null pulse hinting at the sudden disruption of the neutron star's magnetosphere. The only physical model connecting the glitch and the null pulse relies on a starquake either triggering, or being triggered by, the glitch itself. Until now, this was the only null pulse identified from over 50 years of observing the Vela pulsar. We identify five other null-like pulses, that we term quasi-nulls, before and after the glitch, separated by hundreds of seconds. We verify that such nulls are not found in data away from the glitch. We speculate that the quasi-nulls are associated with foreshocks and aftershocks preceding and following the main quake, analogously with terrestrial quakes. This implies the energy reservoir built up between glitches is not released suddenly, but over a period of minutes to hours around the time of the glitch.

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