Coordinated X-ray, Ultraviolet, Optical, and Radio Observations of the PSR J1023+0038 System in a Low-mass X-ray Binary State
Slavko Bogdanov, Anne M. Archibald, Cees Bassa, Adam T. Deller, Jules P. Halpern, George Heald, Jason W. T. Hessels, Gemma H. Janssen, Andrew G. Lyne, Javier Mo… 展开作者
Slavko Bogdanov, Anne M. Archibald, Cees Bassa, Adam T. Deller, Jules P. Halpern, George Heald, Jason W. T. Hessels, Gemma H. Janssen, Andrew G. Lyne, Javier Moldon, Zsolt Paragi, Alessandro Patruno, Benetge B. P. Perera, Ben W. Stappers, Shriharsh P. Tendulkar, Caroline R. D'Angelo, Rudy Wijnands
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24 pages, 15 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
The PSR J1023+0038 binary system hosts a neutron star and a low-mass, main-sequence-like star. It switches on year timescales between states as an eclipsing radio millisecond pulsar and a low-mass X-ray binary. We present a multi-wavelength observational campaign of PSR J1023+0038 in its most recent low-mass X-ray binary state. Two long XMM-Newton observations reveal that the system spends ~70% of the time in a $\approx$$3\times10^{33}$ erg/s X-ray luminosity mode, which, as shown in Archibald et al. (2014), exhibits coherent X-ray pulsations. This emission is interspersed with frequent lower flux mode intervals with $\approx$$5\times 10^{32}$ erg/s and sporadic flares reaching up to $\approx$$10^{34}$ erg/s, with neither mode showing significant X-ray pulsations. The switches between the three flux modes occur on timescales of order 10 s. In the UV and optical, we observe occasional intense flares coincident with those observed in X-rays. Our radio timing observations reveal no pulsations at the pulsar period during any of the three X-ray modes, presumably due to complete quenching of the radio emission mechanism by the accretion flow. Radio imaging detects highly variable, flat-spectrum continuum emission from PSR J1023+0038, consistent with an origin in a weak jet-like outflow. Our concurrent X-ray and radio continuum data sets do not exhibit any correlated behavior. The observational evidence we present bears qualitative resemblance to the behavior predicted by some existing propeller and trapped disk accretion models although none can fully account for all aspects of the rich phenomenology of this system.
We analyzed the thermal emission from the entire surface of the millisecond pulsar PSR J0437-4715 observed in the ultraviolet and soft X-ray bands. For this, we calculated non-magnetized, partially ionized atmosphere models of hydrogen, helium, and iron compositions and included plasma frequency effects that may affect the emergent spectrum. This is particularly true for the coldest atmospheres composed of iron (up to a few percent changes in the soft X-ray flux). Employing a Markov chain Monte Carlo method, we found that the spectral fits favour a hydrogen atmosphere, disfavour a helium compo…
We observed the young ($\sim 1700$ yrs) pulsar PSR B0540-69 in the near-ultraviolet (UV) for the first time with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard the {\em Hubble Space Telescope}. Imaging observations with the NUV- and FUV-MAMA detectors in TIME-TAG mode allowed us to clearly detect the pulsar in two bands around 2350Å and 1590Å, with magnitudes $m_{\rm NUV} =21.449 \pm 0.019$ and $m_{\rm FUV} =21.832 \pm 0.103$. We also detected the pulsar-wind nebula (PWN) in the NUV-MAMA image, with a morphology similar to that observed in the optical and near-infrared (IR). The extinc…
Observations obtained in the last years challenged the widespread notion that rotation-powered neutron stars are steady X-ray emitters. Besides a few allegedly rotation-powered neutron stars that showed "magnetar-like" variability, a particularly interesting case is that of PSR B0943+10. Recent observations have shown that this pulsar, well studied in the radio band where it alternates between a bright and a quiescent mode, displays significant X-ray variations, anticorrelated in flux with the radio emission. The study of such synchronous radio/X-ray mode switching opens a new window to invest…
We present the first X-ray observations of three recently discovered millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with interesting characteristics: PSR J0337+1715, PSR J0636+5129, and PSR J0645+5158. PSR J0337+1715 is a fast-spinning, bright, and so-far unique MSP in a hierarchical triple system with two white dwarf (WD) companions. PSR J0636+5129 is a MSP in a very tight 96-min orbit with a low-mass, 8 $M_J$ companion. PSR J0645+5158 is a nearby, isolated MSP with a very small duty cycle (1-2%), which has led to its inclusion in high-precision pulsar timing programs. Using data from XMM-Newton, we have analyze…
We report on X-ray and TeV gamma-ray observations of the pulsar/Be star binary PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213. PSR J2032+4127 is a 143-ms gamma-ray pulsar which shares a long period (45-50 year) and highly eccentric orbit with the massive Be star MT91 213. TeV gamma-ray emission was detected from the binary following a coordinated observing campaign over the fall 2017 periastron with VERITAS, MAGIC, and X-ray monitoring with Swift-XRT. The discovery of this gamma-ray binary makes it just the second such source known to contain a pulsar as the compact object. We report on over 100 hours of extensive T…
We observed a nearby millisecond pulsar J2124-3358 with the Hubble Space Telescope in broad far-UV (FUV) and optical filters. The pulsar is detected in both bands with fluxes F(1250-2000 A)= (2.5+/-0.3)x10^-16 erg/s/cm^2 and F(3800-6000 A)=(6.4+/-0.4)x10^-17 erg/s/cm^2, which correspond to luminosities of ~5.8x10^27 and 1.4x10^27 erg/s, for d=410 pc and E(B-V)=0.03. The optical-FUV spectrum can be described by a power-law model, f_nu~nu^alpha, with slope alpha=0.18-0.48 for a conservative range of color excess, E(B-V)=0.01-0.08. Since a spectral flux rising with frequency is unusual for pulsar…
We present coordinated Chandra X-ray Observatory and Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 in its low-luminosity accreting state. The unprecedented five hours of strictly simultaneous X-ray and radio continuum coverage for the first time unambiguously show a highly reproducible, anti-correlated variability pattern. The characteristic switches from the X-ray high mode into a low mode are always accompanied by a radio brightening with duration that closely matches the X-ray low mode interval. This behavior cannot be explained by a cano…
The transitional millisecond pulsar PSR\,J1023+0038 is the first millisecond pulsar discovered to emit UV and optical pulses. Here we present the results of the UV and X-ray phase-resolved timing analysis of observations performed with the Hubble Space Telescope, \textit{XMM-Newton} and NuSTAR satellites between 2014 and 2021. Ultraviolet pulsations are detected in the high luminosity mode and disappear during low and flaring modes, similar to what is observed in the X-ray band. In the high mode, we find variability in both the UV and X-ray pulse amplitudes. The root mean square pulsed amplitu…
3FGL J1544.6-1125 is a candidate transitional millisecond pulsar (tMSP). Similar to the well-established tMSPs - PSR J1023+0038, IGR J18245-2452, and XSS J12270-4859 -- 3FGL J1544.6-1125 shows $γ$-ray emission and discrete X-ray "low" and "high" modes during its low-luminosity accretion-disk state. Coordinated radio/X-ray observations of PSR J1023+0038 in its current low-luminosity accretion-disk state showed rapidly variable radio continuum emission-possibly originating from a compact, self-absorbed jet, the "propellering" of accretion material, and/or pulsar moding. 3FGL J1544.6-1125 is curr…
We present a study of PSR J1723-2837, an eclipsing, 1.86 ms millisecond binary radio pulsar discovered in the Parkes Multibeam survey. Radio timing indicates that the pulsar has a circular orbit with a 15 hr orbital period, a low-mass companion, and a measurable orbital period derivative. The eclipse fraction of ~15% during the pulsar's orbit is twice the Roche lobe size inferred for the companion. The timing behavior is significantly affected by unmodeled systematics of astrophysical origin, and higher-order orbital period derivatives are needed in the timing solution to account for these var…
The energetic, eclipsing millisecond pulsar J1816+4510 was recently discovered in a low-frequency radio survey with the Green Bank Telescope. With an orbital period of 8.7 hr and minimum companion mass of 0.16 Msun it appears to belong to an increasingly important class of pulsars that are ablating their low-mass companions. We report the discovery of the gamma-ray counterpart to this pulsar, and present a likely optical/ultraviolet counterpart as well. Using the radio ephemeris we detect pulsations in the unclassified gamma-ray source 2FGL J1816.5+4511, implying an efficiency of ~25% in conve…
We present coordinated multiwavelength observations of the high Galactic latitude (b=+50 deg) black hole X-ray binary (XRB) J1357.2-0933 in quiescence. Our broadband spectrum includes strictly simultaneous radio and X-ray observations, and near-infrared, optical, and ultraviolet data taken 1-2 days later. We detect Swift J1357.2-0933 at all wavebands except for the radio (f_5GHz < 3.9 uJy/beam). Given current constraints on the distance (2.3-6.3 kpc), its 0.5-10 keV X-ray flux corresponds to an Eddington ratio Lx/Ledd = 4e-9 -- 3e-8 (assuming a black hole mass of 10 Msun). The broadband spectr…
The relation between X-ray and UV/optical variability in AGNs has been explored in many individual sources, however a large sample study is yet absent. Through matching the XMM-Newton serendipitous X-ray and UV source catalogs with SDSS quasars, we build a sample of 802 epoch-pairs of 525 quasars showing clear variability in logFx-logFuv space. After correcting for the effect of photometric noise, we find 35.6\pm2.1% of the epoch-pairs show asynchronous variability between X-ray and UV (brightening in one band but dimming in the other). This indicates only in 28.8\pm4.2% of the epoch-pairs the…
We present the results of a deep study of the neutron star (NS) population in the globular cluster M28 (NGC 6626), using the full 330-ks 2002-2015 ACIS dataset from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and coordinated radio observations taken with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in 2015. We investigate the X-ray luminosity (Lx), spectrum, and orbital modulation of the 7 known compact binary millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in the cluster. We report two simultaneous detections of the redback PSR J1824-2452I (M28I) and its X-ray counterpart. We discover a double-peaked X-ray orbital flux modulation in M28I du…
PSR J1023+0038 is a rapidly-spinning neutron star with a low-mass-binary companion that switches between a radio pulsar and low-luminosity disk state. In 2013, it transitioned to its current disk state accompanied by brightening at all observed wavelengths. In this state, PSR J1023+0038 now shows optical and X-ray pulsations and abrupt X-ray luminosity switches between discrete 'low' and 'high' modes. Continuum radio emission, denoting an outflow, is also present and brightens during the X-ray low modes. Here, we present a simultaneous optical, ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray campaign comprising Ke…
I present a 40 kilosecond Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observation of the recently identified low-luminosity X-ray binary and transitional millisecond pulsar (tMSP) candidate 1RXS J154439.4-112820, which is associated with the high-energy gamma-ray source 3FGL J1544.6--1125. The system is detected up to ~30 keV with an extension of the same power-law spectrum and rapid large-amplitude variability between two flux levels observed in soft X-rays. These findings provide further evidence that 1RXS J154439.4-112820 belongs to the same class of objects as the nearby bona fide tMSPs…
We present X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical observations of 1RXS J154439.4-112820, the most probable counterpart of the unassociated Fermi LAT source 3FGL J1544.6-1125. The optical data reveal rapid variability, which is a feature of accreting systems. The X-rays exhibit large-amplitude variations in the form of fast switching (within ~10 s) between two distinct flux levels that differ by a factor of $\approx$10. The detailed optical and X-ray behavior is virtually identical to that seen in the accretion-disk-dominated states of the transitional millisecond pulsar binaries PSR J1023+0038 and XS…