Properties and evolution of the redback millisecond pulsar binary PSR J2129–0429
- Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (United States)
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Alan Turing Building, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL (United Kingdom)
- Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, PO Bag 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007 (India)
- Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
- New York University Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 129188, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
- ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA, Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- Faulkes Telescope Project, School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, 5 The Parade, Cardiff, CF24 3AA, Wales (United Kingdom)
- Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, Faculty of Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2475 (United States)
- Eureka Scientific Inc., 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 100, Oakland, California 94602-3017 (United States)
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
PSR J2129−0429 is a “redback” eclipsing millisecond pulsar binary with an unusually long 15.2 hr orbit. It was discovered by the Green Bank Telescope in a targeted search of unidentified Fermi gamma-ray sources. The pulsar companion is optically bright (mean m{sub R} = 16.6 mag), allowing us to construct the longest baseline photometric data set available for such a system. We present 10 years of archival and new photometry of the companion from the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research Survey, the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey, the Palomar Transient Factory, the Palomar 60 inch, and the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope. Radial velocity spectroscopy using the Double-Beam Spectrograph on the Palomar 200 inch indicates that the pulsar is massive: 1.74 ± 0.18 M{sub ⊙}. The G-type pulsar companion has mass 0.44 ± 0.04 M{sub ⊙}, one of the heaviest known redback companions. It is currently 95 ± 1% Roche-lobe filling and only mildly irradiated by the pulsar. We identify a clear 13.1 mmag yr{sup −1} secular decline in the mean magnitude of the companion as well as smaller-scale variations in the optical light curve shape. This behavior may indicate that the companion is cooling. Binary evolution calculations indicate that PSR J2129−0429 has an orbital period almost exactly at the bifurcation period between systems that converge into tighter orbits as black widows and redbacks and those that diverge into wider pulsar–white dwarf binaries. Its eventual fate may depend on whether it undergoes future episodes of mass transfer and increased irradiation.
- OSTI ID:
- 22882307
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 816, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Since 2009, the country of publication for this journal is the UK.; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
PSR J1723–2837: AN ECLIPSING BINARY RADIO MILLISECOND PULSAR
Discovery of a millisecond pulsar in the 5.4 day binary 3FGL J1417.5–4402: Observing the late phase of pulsar recycling