Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-20-2017
Abstract
In this work, we report the discovery and characterization of PSR J1411+2551, a new binary pulsar discovered in the Arecibo 327 MHz Drift Pulsar Survey. Our timing observations of the radio pulsar in the system span a period of about 2.5 years. This timing campaign allowed a precise measurement of its spin period (62.4 ms) and its derivative (9.6 ±0.7) ×10 -20 s s -1 ; from these, we derive a characteristic age of >9.1 Gyr and a surface magnetic field strength of < 2.6 ×10 9 G. These numbers indicate that this pulsar was mildly recycled by accretion of matter from the progenitor of the companion star. The system has an eccentric (e =0.17) 2.61 day orbit. This eccentricity allows a highly significant measurement of the rate of advance of periastron, . Assuming general relativity accurately describes the orbital motion, this implies a total system mass M =2.538 ±0.022 M o . The minimum companion mass is 0.92 M o and the maximum pulsar mass is 1.62 M o . The large companion mass and the orbital eccentricity suggest that PSR J1411+2551 is a double neutron star system; the lightest known to date including the DNS merger GW170817. Furthermore, the relatively low orbital eccentricity and small proper motion limits suggest that the second supernova had a relatively small associated kick; this and the low system mass suggest that it was an ultra-stripped supernova.
Recommended Citation
Martinez, J. G., K. Stovall, P. C. C. Freire, J. S. Deneva, T. M. Tauris, A. Ridolfi, N. Wex, F. A. Jenet, M. A. McLaughlin, and M. Bagchi. "Pulsar J1411+ 2551: A low-mass double neutron star system." The Astrophysical Journal Letters 851, no. 2 (2017): L29. http://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa9d87
Publication Title
Astrophysical Journal Letters
DOI
10.3847/2041-8213/aa9d87
Comments
© Astrophysical Journal Letters. Original version available at: http://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa9d87