Coordinated X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, and radio observations of the PSR J1023+0038 system in a low-mass X-ray binary state

Journal Article · Sat Jun 20 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/148· OSTI ID:22883045

Bogdanov, Slavko; Halpern, Jules P. ^[1]; Archibald, Anne M.; Bassa, Cees; Deller, Adam T.; Heald, George; Hessels, Jason W. T.; Janssen, Gemma H.; Moldón, Javier; Patruno, Alessandro ^[2]; Lyne, Andrew G.; Perera, Benetge B. P.; Stappers, Ben W. ^[3]; Paragi, Zsolt ^[4]; Tendulkar, Shriharsh P. ^[5]; D’Angelo, Caroline R. ^[6]; Wijnands, Rudy ^[7]

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1. Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
2. ASTRON, The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA, Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
3. Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom)
4. JIVE, Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe, Postbus 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
5. California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
6. Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA, Leiden (Netherlands)
7. Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands)

The PSR J1023+0038 binary system hosts a neutron star and a low-mass, main-sequence-like star. It switches on year timescales between states as an eclipsing radio millisecond pulsar and a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB). We present a multi-wavelength observational campaign of PSR J1023+0038 in its most recent LMXB state. Two long XMM-Newton observations reveal that the system spends ∼70% of the time in a ≈3 × 10{sup 33} erg s{sup −1} X-ray luminosity mode, which, as shown in Archibald et al., exhibits coherent X-ray pulsations. This emission is interspersed with frequent lower flux mode intervals with ≈5×10{sup 32} erg s{sup −1} and sporadic flares reaching up to ≈10{sup 34} erg s{sup −1}, with neither mode showing significant X-ray pulsations. The switches between the three flux modes occur on timescales of order 10 s. In the UV and optical, we observe occasional intense flares coincident with those observed in X-rays. Our radio timing observations reveal no pulsations at the pulsar period during any of the three X-ray modes, presumably due to complete quenching of the radio emission mechanism by the accretion flow. Radio imaging detects highly variable, flat-spectrum continuum radiation from PSR J1023+0038, consistent with an origin in a weak jet-like outflow. Our concurrent X-ray and radio continuum data sets do not exhibit any correlated behavior. The observational evidence we present bears qualitative resemblance to the behavior predicted by some existing “propeller” and “trapped” disk accretion models although none can account for key aspects of the rich phenomenology of this system.

• OSTI ID: 22883045
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 806; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United Kingdom
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ACCRETION DISKS
EMISSION
LUMINOSITY
MASS
NEUTRON STARS
PULSARS
PULSATIONS
SPECTRA
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
X RADIATION