Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2011
Abstract
We report the discovery of the 20.7ms binary pulsar J1952+2630, made using the distributed computing project Einstein@Home in Pulsar ALFA survey observations with the Arecibo telescope. Follow-up observations with the Arecibo telescope confirm the binary nature of the system. We obtain a circular orbital solution with an orbital period of 9.4hr, a projected orbital radius of 2.8lt-s, and a mass function of f = 0.15 M ⊙ by analysis of spin period measurements. No evidence of orbital eccentricity is apparent; we set a 2σ upper limit e ≲ 1.7 × 10 -3 . The orbital parameters suggest a massive white dwarf companion with a minimum mass of 0.95 M ⊙ , assuming a pulsar mass of 1.4 M ⊙ . Most likely, this pulsar belongs to the rare class of intermediate-mass binary pulsars. Future timing observations will aim to determine the parameters of this system further, measure relativistic effects, and elucidate the nature of the companion star. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Recommended Citation
Knispel, Benjamin, Patile Lazarus, Bruce Allen, David Anderson, C. Aulbert, N. D. R. Bhat, O. Bock et al. "Arecibo PALFA survey and Einstein@ Home: Binary pulsar discovery by volunteer computing." The Astrophysical Journal Letters 732, no. 1 (2011): L1. http://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/732/1/L1
Publication Title
Astrophysical Journal Letters
DOI
10.1088/2041-8205/732/1/L1
Comments
© Astrophysical Journal Letters. Original version available at: http://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/732/1/L1