A Multiwavelength Study of Nearby Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1400−1431: Improved Astrometry and an Optical Detection of Its Cool White Dwarf Companion
- Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University, White Hall, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States)
- Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
- Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375-5352 (United States)
- Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University, Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgantown, WV 26505 (United States)
- NRAO, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
- Green Bank Observatory, P.O. Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24944 (United States)
- One University Parkway, Department of Physics, High Point University, High Point, NC 27268 (United States)
- ASTRON, The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA, Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
- NRAO, P.O. Box 0, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pomona College, 610 N. College Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)
In 2012, five high-school students involved in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory discovered the millisecond pulsar (MSP) PSR J1400−1431, and initial timing parameters were published in Rosen et al. a year later. Since then, we have obtained a phase-connected timing solution spanning five years, resolving a significant position discrepancy and measuring P-dot , proper motion, parallax, and a monotonic slope in dispersion measure over time. Due to PSR J1400−1431’s proximity and significant proper motion, we use the Shklovskii effect and other priors to determine a 95% confidence interval for PSR J1400−1431’s distance, d=270{sub −80}{sup +130} pc. With an improved timing position, we present the first detection of the pulsar’s low-mass white dwarf (WD) companion using the Goodman Spectrograph on the 4.1 m SOAR telescope. Deeper imaging suggests that it is a cool DA-type WD with T{sub eff}=3000±100 K and R/R{sub ⊙}=(2.19±0.03)×10{sup −2} (d/270 pc). We show a convincing association between PSR J1400−1431 and a γ-ray point source, 3FGL J1400.5−1437, but only weak (3.3σ) evidence of pulsations after folding γ-ray photons using our radio timing model. We detect an X-ray counterpart with XMM-Newton, but the measured X-ray luminosity (1×10{sup 29} erg s{sup −1}) makes PSR J1400−1431 the least X-ray luminous rotation-powered MSP detected to date. Together, our findings present a consistent picture of a nearby (d≈230 pc) MSP in a 9.5-day orbit around a cool ∼0.3 M {sub ⊙} WD companion, with orbital inclination i≳60{sup ∘}.
- OSTI ID:
- 22875769
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 847, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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