DOES THE VELA PULSAR HAVE WISPS

VLA observations in the immediate vicinity of the Vela pulsar have been made using a technique to mask out the strong pulsed radio emission from the pulsar. We report the discovery of a localized ridge of highly polarized radio emission to the northeast of the Vela pulsar. This feature is concave toward the pulsar, and has a steep spectrum. On the basis of its physical and geometric properties, we argue that it is directly related to the pulsar, although it is not coincident with either the previously known X-ray synchrotron nebula or the optical continuum nebulosity. We suggest that the feature is part of the shock produced by the termination of the relativistic magnetohydrodynamic pulsar wind into the surrounding medium. It bears many similarities to the wisps seen in the Crab Nebula.