VERY LONG BASELINE INTERFEROMETRY MEASURED PROPER MOTION AND PARALLAX OF THE γ-RAY MILLISECOND PULSAR PSR J0218+4232
- National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 1 Nanertiao, Zhongguancun, Haidian district, Beijing 100190 (China)
- Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe, Postbus 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
- University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank Observatory, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 9DL (United Kingdom)
PSR J0218+4232 is a millisecond pulsar (MSP) with a flux density ∼0.9 mJy at 1.4 GHz. It is very bright in the high-energy X-ray and γ-ray domains. We conducted an astrometric program using the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 1.6 GHz to measure its proper motion and parallax. A model-independent distance would also help constrain its γ-ray luminosity. We achieved a detection of signal-to-noise ratio S/N >37 for the weak pulsar in all five epochs. Using an extragalactic radio source lying 20 arcmin away from the pulsar, we estimate the pulsar's proper motion to be μ{sub α}cos δ = 5.35 ± 0.05 mas yr{sup –1} and μ{sub δ} = –3.74 ± 0.12 mas yr{sup –1}, and a parallax of π = 0.16 ± 0.09 mas. The very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) proper motion has significantly improved upon the estimates from long-term pulsar timing observations. The VLBI parallax provides the first model-independent distance constraints: d=6.3{sub −2.3}{sup +8.0} kpc, with a corresponding 3σ lower-limit of d = 2.3 kpc. This is the first pulsar trigonometric parallax measurement based solely on EVN observations. Using the derived distance, we believe that PSR J0218+4232 is the most energetic γ-ray MSP known to date. The luminosity based on even our 3σ lower-limit distance is high enough to pose challenges to the conventional outer gap and slot gap models.
- OSTI ID:
- 22363969
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 782, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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