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Title: Keck spectroscopy of millisecond pulsar J2215+5135: a moderate-M

Abstract

We present Keck spectroscopic measurements of the millisecond pulsar binary J2215+5135. These data indicate a neutron-star (NS) mass $${M}_{\mathrm{NS}}=1.6\;{M}_{\odot }$$, much less than previously estimated. The pulsar heats the companion face to $${T}_{D}\approx 9000$$ K; the large heating efficiency may be mediated by the intrabinary shock dominating the X-ray light curve. At the best-fit inclination i = 88 $$^o\atop{.}$$ 8, the pulsar should be eclipsed. Here, we find weak evidence for such eclipses in the pulsed gamma-rays; an improved radio ephemeris allows use of up to five times more Fermi-Large Area Telescope gamma-ray photons for a definitive test of this picture. If confirmed, the gamma-ray eclipse provides a novel probe of the dense companion wind and the pulsar magnetosphere.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Physics
  2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Astronomy
  3. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Astronomy
  4. CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Epping, NSW (Australia)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1354923
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515; AST-1211916; NNX11AO44G
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online); Journal Volume: 809; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-8213
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; gamma rays; stars; pulsars

Citation Formats

Romani, Roger W., Graham, Melissa L., Filippenko, Alexei V., and Kerr, Matthew. Keck spectroscopy of millisecond pulsar J2215+5135: a moderate-M. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/809/1/L10.
Romani, Roger W., Graham, Melissa L., Filippenko, Alexei V., & Kerr, Matthew. Keck spectroscopy of millisecond pulsar J2215+5135: a moderate-M. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/809/1/L10
Romani, Roger W., Graham, Melissa L., Filippenko, Alexei V., and Kerr, Matthew. Fri . "Keck spectroscopy of millisecond pulsar J2215+5135: a moderate-M". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/809/1/L10. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1354923.
@article{osti_1354923,
title = {Keck spectroscopy of millisecond pulsar J2215+5135: a moderate-M},
author = {Romani, Roger W. and Graham, Melissa L. and Filippenko, Alexei V. and Kerr, Matthew},
abstractNote = {We present Keck spectroscopic measurements of the millisecond pulsar binary J2215+5135. These data indicate a neutron-star (NS) mass ${M}_{\mathrm{NS}}=1.6\;{M}_{\odot }$, much less than previously estimated. The pulsar heats the companion face to ${T}_{D}\approx 9000$ K; the large heating efficiency may be mediated by the intrabinary shock dominating the X-ray light curve. At the best-fit inclination i = 88 $^o\atop{.}$ 8, the pulsar should be eclipsed. Here, we find weak evidence for such eclipses in the pulsed gamma-rays; an improved radio ephemeris allows use of up to five times more Fermi-Large Area Telescope gamma-ray photons for a definitive test of this picture. If confirmed, the gamma-ray eclipse provides a novel probe of the dense companion wind and the pulsar magnetosphere.},
doi = {10.1088/2041-8205/809/1/L10},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online)},
number = 1,
volume = 809,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Fri Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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Cited by: 20 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

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