skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Discovery of the optical counterparts to four energetic Fermi millisecond pulsars

Abstract

In the last few years, over 43 millisecond radio pulsars have been discovered by targeted searches of unidentified γ-ray sources found by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. A large fraction of these millisecond pulsars are in compact binaries with low-mass companions. These systems often show eclipses of the pulsar signal and are commonly known as black widows and redbacks because the pulsar is gradually destroying its companion. In this paper, we report on the optical discovery of four strongly irradiated millisecond pulsar companions. All four sources show modulations of their color and luminosity at the known orbital periods from radio timing. Light curve modeling of our exploratory data shows that the equilibrium temperature reached on the companion's dayside with respect to their nightside is consistent with about 10%-30% of the available spin-down energy from the pulsar being reprocessed to increase the companion's dayside temperature. This value compares well with the range observed in other irradiated pulsar binaries and offers insights about the energetics of the pulsar wind and the production of γ-ray emission. In addition, this provides a simple way of estimating the brightness of irradiated pulsar companions given the pulsar spin-down luminosity. Our analysis also suggests that two ofmore » the four new irradiated pulsar companions are only partially filling their Roche lobe. Some of these sources are relatively bright and represent good targets for spectroscopic follow-up. These measurements could enable, among other things, mass determination of the neutron stars in these systems.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom)
  2. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada)
  3. Eureka Scientific Inc., 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602-3017 (United States)
  4. ASTRON, The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990-AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
  5. Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West, 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
  6. Department of Physics, White Hall, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States)
  7. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
  8. Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Code 7655, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22342069
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 769; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; BRIGHTNESS; DATA; ECLIPSE; EMISSION; EQUILIBRIUM; GAMMA RADIATION; IRRADIATION; LUMINOSITY; MASS; MODULATION; NEUTRON STARS; PULSARS; ROCHE EQUIPOTENTIALS; SIMULATION; SPACE; SPIN; TELESCOPES; VISIBLE RADIATION

Citation Formats

Breton, R. P., Van Kerkwijk, M. H., Roberts, M. S. E., Hessels, J. W. T., Camilo, F., McLaughlin, M. A., Ransom, S. M., Ray, P. S., and Stairs, I. H., E-mail: r.breton@soton.ac.uk. Discovery of the optical counterparts to four energetic Fermi millisecond pulsars. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/769/2/108.
Breton, R. P., Van Kerkwijk, M. H., Roberts, M. S. E., Hessels, J. W. T., Camilo, F., McLaughlin, M. A., Ransom, S. M., Ray, P. S., & Stairs, I. H., E-mail: r.breton@soton.ac.uk. Discovery of the optical counterparts to four energetic Fermi millisecond pulsars. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/769/2/108
Breton, R. P., Van Kerkwijk, M. H., Roberts, M. S. E., Hessels, J. W. T., Camilo, F., McLaughlin, M. A., Ransom, S. M., Ray, P. S., and Stairs, I. H., E-mail: r.breton@soton.ac.uk. 2013. "Discovery of the optical counterparts to four energetic Fermi millisecond pulsars". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/769/2/108.
@article{osti_22342069,
title = {Discovery of the optical counterparts to four energetic Fermi millisecond pulsars},
author = {Breton, R. P. and Van Kerkwijk, M. H. and Roberts, M. S. E. and Hessels, J. W. T. and Camilo, F. and McLaughlin, M. A. and Ransom, S. M. and Ray, P. S. and Stairs, I. H., E-mail: r.breton@soton.ac.uk},
abstractNote = {In the last few years, over 43 millisecond radio pulsars have been discovered by targeted searches of unidentified γ-ray sources found by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. A large fraction of these millisecond pulsars are in compact binaries with low-mass companions. These systems often show eclipses of the pulsar signal and are commonly known as black widows and redbacks because the pulsar is gradually destroying its companion. In this paper, we report on the optical discovery of four strongly irradiated millisecond pulsar companions. All four sources show modulations of their color and luminosity at the known orbital periods from radio timing. Light curve modeling of our exploratory data shows that the equilibrium temperature reached on the companion's dayside with respect to their nightside is consistent with about 10%-30% of the available spin-down energy from the pulsar being reprocessed to increase the companion's dayside temperature. This value compares well with the range observed in other irradiated pulsar binaries and offers insights about the energetics of the pulsar wind and the production of γ-ray emission. In addition, this provides a simple way of estimating the brightness of irradiated pulsar companions given the pulsar spin-down luminosity. Our analysis also suggests that two of the four new irradiated pulsar companions are only partially filling their Roche lobe. Some of these sources are relatively bright and represent good targets for spectroscopic follow-up. These measurements could enable, among other things, mass determination of the neutron stars in these systems.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/769/2/108},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22342069}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 769,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}