2 An Introduction to Pulsar Astronomy 

Many of the basic observational facts about radio pulsars were established shortly after their discovery [97] by Bell and Hewish in 1967. In the intervening years, theoretical and observational progress has flourished. Although there are many remaining questions, particularly about the emission mechanism, the basic model has long been established beyond all reasonable doubt, viz.: Pulsars are rapidly rotating, highly magnetised neutron stars formed during the supernova explosions of massive ( 5-10 ) stars. In the following, we discuss the basic observational properties most relevant to this review.

• 2.1 The lighthouse model
• 2.2 Pulse profiles
• 2.3 The pulsar distance scale
• 2.4 Normal and millisecond pulsars
• 2.5 Searching for pulsars
• 2.6 Where to look for binary and millisecond pulsars
• 2.7 Going further

Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium Duncan R. Lorimer http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2001-5 © Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. ISSN 1433-8351 Problems/Comments to livrev@aei-potsdam.mpg.de