scholarly journals Timing observations of three Galactic millisecond pulsars

Author(s):  
D R Lorimer ◽  
A M Kawash ◽  
P C C Freire ◽  
D A Smith ◽  
M Kerr ◽  
...  

Abstract We report observed and derived timing parameters for three millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from observations collected with the Parkes 64-m telescope, Murriyang. The pulsars were found during re-processing of archival survey data by Mickaliger et al. One of the new pulsars (PSR J1546–5925) has a spin period P = 7.8 ms and is isolated. The other two (PSR J0921–5202 with P = 9.7 ms and PSR J1146–6610 with P = 3.7 ms) are in binary systems around low-mass (>0.2 M⊙) companions. Their respective orbital periods are 38.2 d and 62.8 d. While PSR J0921–5202 has a low orbital eccentricity e = 1.3 × 10−5, in keeping with many other Galactic MSPs, PSR J1146–6610 has a significantly larger eccentricity, e = 7.4 × 10−3. This makes it a likely member of a group of eccentric MSP–He white dwarf binary systems in the Galactic disk whose formation is poorly understood. Two of the pulsars are co-located with previously unidentified point sources discovered with the Fermi satellite’s Large Area Telescope, but no γ-ray pulsations have been detected, likely due to their low spin-down powers. We also show that, particularly in terms of orbital diversity, the current sample of MSPs is far from complete and is subject to a number of selection biases.

2003 ◽  
Vol 214 ◽  
pp. 215-217
Author(s):  
Q. Z. Liu ◽  
X. D. Li ◽  
D. M. Wei

The relation between the spin period (Ps) and the orbital period (Po) in high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) is investigated. In order for Be/X-ray binaries to locate above the critical line of observable X-ray emission due to accretion, it is necessary for an intermediate orbital eccentricity to be introduced. We suggest that some peculiar systems in the Po − Ps diagram are caused by their peculiar magnetic fields.


1997 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 828-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Webbink ◽  
V. Kalogera

AbstractConsiderations of donor star stability, age, and mass transfer rate show that low-mass X-ray binaries and binary millisecond pulsars with orbital periods longer than a few days must have survived an initial phase of super-Eddington mass transfer. We review the physical arguments leading to this conclusion, and examine its implications for the apparent discrepancy between the death rate for low-mass X-ray binaries and the birth rate of binary millisecond pulsars.


2000 ◽  
Vol 177 ◽  
pp. 43-44
Author(s):  
Scott M. Ransom

AbstractI describe a computationally simple, efficient, and sensitive method to search long observations for pulsars in binary systems. The technique looks for orbitally induced sidebands in the power spectrum around a nominal spin frequency, enabling it to detect pulsars in high- or low-mass binaries with short orbital periods (Porb≲ 5 h).


2019 ◽  
Vol 629 ◽  
pp. A92 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Guillemot ◽  
F. Octau ◽  
I. Cognard ◽  
G. Desvignes ◽  
P. C. C. Freire ◽  
...  

We report on the timing observations of the millisecond pulsar PSR J2055+3829 originally discovered as part of the SPAN512 survey conducted with the Nançay Radio Telescope. The pulsar has a rotational period of 2.089 ms and is in a tight 3.1 h orbit around a very low mass (0.023 ≤ mc ≲ 0.053 M⊙, 90% c.l.) companion. Our 1.4 GHz observations reveal the presence of eclipses of the radio signal of the pulsar, caused by the outflow of material from the companion, for a few minutes around superior conjunction of the pulsar. The very low companion mass, the observation of radio eclipses, and the detection of time variations of the orbital period establish PSR J2055+3829 as a “black widow” (BW) pulsar. Inspection of the radio signal from the pulsar during ingress and egress phases shows that the eclipses in PSR J2055+3829 are asymmetric and variable, as is commonly observed in other similar systems. More generally, the orbital properties of the new pulsar are found to be very similar to those of other known eclipsing BW pulsars. No gamma-ray source has been detected at the location of the pulsar in recent Fermi-LAT source catalogs. We used the timing ephemeris to search ten years of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data for gamma-ray pulsations, but were unable to detect any. This non-detection could be a consequence of the large distance of the pulsar compared to those of known gamma-ray millisecond pulsars outside of globular clusters. We finally compared the mass functions of eclipsing and non-eclipsing BW pulsars and confirmed previous findings that eclipsing BWs have higher mass functions than their non-eclipsing counterparts. Larger inclinations could explain the higher mass functions of eclipsing BWs. On the other hand, the mass function distributions of Galactic disk and globular cluster BWs appear to be consistent, suggesting, despite the very different environments, the existence of common mechanisms taking place in the last stages of evolution of BWs.


2000 ◽  
Vol 177 ◽  
pp. 635-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Driebe ◽  
T. Blöcker ◽  
D. Schönberner

Low-mass white dwarfs with helium cores (He-WDs) are known to result from mass loss and/or exchange events in binary systems where the donor is a low mass star evolving along the red giant branch (RGB). Therefore, He-WDs are common components in binary systems with either two white dwarfs or with a white dwarf and a millisecond pulsar (MSP). If the cooling behaviour of He-WDs is known from theoretical studies (see Driebe et al. 1998, and references therein) the ages of MSP systems can be calculated independently of the pulsar properties provided the He-WD mass is known from spectroscopy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 25-30
Author(s):  
J. Petrovic

This paper presents detailed evolutionary models of low-mass binary systems (1.25 + 1 M?) with initial orbital periods of 10, 50 and 100 days and accretion efficiency of 10%, 20%, 50%, and a conservative assumption. All models are calculated with the MESA (Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics) evolutionary code. We show that such binary systems can evolve via a stable Case B mass transfer into long period helium white dwarf systems.


2013 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 157-160
Author(s):  
ZHENG CHENG ◽  
CHENGMIN ZHANG ◽  
ALI TAANI

We perform a Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the distribution and evolution of 66 mass measured pulsars. We get the best fits to the distribution at 1.35 ± 0.27M⨀ (1σ confidence level). In addition, we notice bimodal distributions in 1.34 ± 0.15M⨀ and 1.48 ± 0.53M⨀, this can be led to the idea that radio pulsars in binary systems have recycled. Thus we divide the data according to the characteristic spin period into two groups, millisecond pulsars (MSPs), P Spin ≤ 20 ms and less recycled pulsars P Spin ≥ 20 ms , respectively. We show that the distributions of MSPs at 1.42 ± 0.36M⨀, and 1.32 ± 0.18M⨀ for less recycled pulsars. As such, the mass of MSPs are heavier than those in less recycled pulsars by ~ 0.1M⨀, since they accreting material from their companions. On the other hand, the formation of heavier pulsars from the accretion induced collapse of accreting white dwarfs, must be invoked.


1987 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
D. C. Backer

In 1982 a new class of pulsars was defined by the discovery of a star with a millisecond rotation period, 1.6 ms. In the past 3.5 years two additional pulsars with millisecond periods have been discovered. The rapid spin of these pulsars is attributed to mass transfer in a low-mass binary progenitor system. This hypothesis is supported by the presence of companions in two of the three millisecond pulsars. These recent discoveries have led both to a deeper understanding of the final stages of stellar evolution in binary systems, and to closer ties between the observational study of neutron stars by radio, optical and X-ray techniques. In addition the millisecond pulsars provide precise astrophysical clocks that can be used to improve the solar-system ephemeredes and to search for a background of gravitational waves that may have been produced in the early stages of the visible universe. Old and ongoing searches for new millisecond pulsars are described in this paper.


2019 ◽  
Vol 625 ◽  
pp. A150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander von Boetticher ◽  
Amaury H. M. J. Triaud ◽  
Didier Queloz ◽  
Sam Gill ◽  
Pierre F. L. Maxted ◽  
...  

Measurements of the physical properties of stars at the lower end of the main sequence are scarce. In this context we report masses, radii and surface gravities of ten very-low-mass stars in eclipsing binary systems, with orbital periods of the order of several days. The objects probe the stellar mass-radius relation in the fully convective regime, M⋆ ≲ 0.35 M⊙, down to the hydrogen burning mass-limit, MHB ∼ 0.07 M⊙. The stars were detected by the WASP survey for transiting extra-solar planets, as low-mass, eclipsing companions orbiting more massive, F- and G-type host stars. We use eclipse observations of the host stars, performed with the TRAPPIST, Leonhard Euler and SPECULOOS telescopes, and radial velocities of the host stars obtained with the CORALIE spectrograph, to determine the physical properties of the low-mass companions. Surface gravities of the low-mass companions are derived from the eclipse and orbital parameters of each system. Spectroscopic measurements of the host star effective temperature and metallicity are used to infer the host star mass and age from stellar evolution models for solar-type stars. Masses and radii of the low-mass companions are then derived from the eclipse and orbital parameters of the binary systems. The objects are compared to stellar evolution models for low-mass stars, to test for an effect of the stellar metallicity and orbital period on the radius of low-mass stars in close binary systems. Measurements are found to be in good agreement with stellar evolution models; a systematic inflation of the radius of low-mass stars with respect to model predictions is limited to 1.6 ± 1.2%, in the fully convective low-mass regime. The sample of ten objects indicates a scaling of the radius of low-mass stars with the host star metallicity. No correlation between stellar radii and the orbital periods of the binary systems is determined. A combined analysis with thirteen comparable objects from the literature is consistent with this result.


1996 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bailes

AbstractThere are now more than 30 millisecond pulsars known to be associated with the Galactic disk. The majority of these have been discovered in just the last few years as the result of large-scale all-sky surveys. The properties of the population vary tremendously. One unique object hosts a planetary system, more than half of those discovered possess white dwarf companions, two have extremely low-mass companions that are undergoing mass-loss and several others appear to be solitary. In this review I discuss the methods employed to find these millisecond pulsars, the parallels with early surveys for “normal” pulsars, and possible strategies for future searches.


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