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The Mass of a Millisecond Pulsar
Citation
Jacoby, BA and Hotan, AW and Bailes, M and Ord, S and Kulkarni, SR, The Mass of a Millisecond Pulsar, The Astrophysical Journal, 629, (2 II) pp. L113-L116. ISSN 0004-637X (2005) [Refereed Article]
DOI: doi:10.1086/449311
Abstract
We report on nearly 2 years of timing observations of the low-mass binary millisecond pulsar PSR J1909-3744 with the Caltech-Parkes-Swinburne Recorder II, a new instrument that gives unprecedented timing precision. Daily observations give a weighted rms residual of 74 ns, indicating an extremely low level of systematic error. We have greatly improved on the previous parallax and proper motion measurements of PSR J1909-3744, yielding a distance of 1.14 -0.03 +0.04 kpc and transverse velocity of 200 -6 +7 km s-1. The system's orbital eccentricity is just (1.35±12) × 10-7, the smallest yet recorded. Since their discovery, the masses of the rapidly rotating millisecond pulsars have remained a mystery, with the recycling hypothesis arguing for heavy objects, and the accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf more consistent with neutron stars less than the Chandrashkar limit. Fortuitously, PSR J1909-3 744 is an edge-on system, and our data have allowed the measurement of the range and shape of the Shapiro delay to high accuracy, giving the first precise determination of a millisecond pulsar mass to date, mp = 1.438±0.024 M·. The mass of PSR J1909-3744 is at the upper edge of the range observed in mildly recycled pulsars in double neutron star systems, consistent with the recycling hypothesis. It appears that the production of millisecond pulsars is possible with the accretion of <0.2 M·. © 2005. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Physical Sciences |
Research Group: | Astronomical sciences |
Research Field: | Galactic astronomy |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in the physical sciences |
UTAS Author: | Hotan, AW (Dr Aidan Hotan) |
ID Code: | 45118 |
Year Published: | 2005 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 93 |
Deposited By: | Physics |
Deposited On: | 2007-07-03 |
Last Modified: | 2007-07-03 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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