A NEW PULSAR IN GREEN BANK TELESCOPE SEARCHES OF 10 GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

Journal Article · Sun Mar 20 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/730/1/L11· OSTI ID:21560432

Lynch, Ryan S ^[1]

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1. Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States)

We report the results of pulsar searches in 10 globular clusters (GCs) using the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. One new binary millisecond pulsar (MSP) has been discovered in NGC 5986 with P{sub spin} = 2.6 ms, P{sub orb} = 1.3 days, and a minimum companion mass of 0.16 M{sub sun}. The companion is most likely a helium white dwarf. Eight of the GCs we searched have central densities <10{sup 4} L{sub sun} pc{sup -3}, making this a good sample for studying the pulsar content of low-density clusters. We find no evidence for pulsars in clusters with very low densities (<10{sup 3} L{sub sun} pc{sup -3}), consistent with theoretical predictions. Null results in many of the clusters we searched with moderate densities indicate that these systems do not contain a bright MSP. Two clusters in particular, one with very low metallicity, stand in contrast to theoretical calculations by Ivanova et al. We also find that three-body exchange interaction rates calculated by Phinney seem to overpredict the pulsar content in the clusters we studied.

• OSTI ID: 21560432
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 730; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DWARF STARS
ELEMENTS
EXCHANGE INTERACTIONS
FLUIDS
GASES
HELIUM
INTERACTIONS
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
NONMETALS
PULSARS
RARE GASES
STARS
THREE-BODY PROBLEM
WHITE DWARF STARS