Optical Spectroscopy and Demographics of Redback Millisecond Pulsar Binaries

Strader, Jay; Swihart, Samuel J.; Chomiuk, Laura; Bahramian, A.; Britt, C. T.; Cheung, C. C.; Dage, Kristen C.; Halpern, J. P.; Li, Kwan Lok; Mignani, Roberto; Orosz, Jerome A.; Peacock, Mark B.; Salinas, R.; Shishkovsky, Laura; Tremou, Evangelia

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aafbaa

Cited by 126 publications

(160 citation statements)

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“…In order to confirm J0935 as a MSP binary and determine its possible transitional nature, multi-band phaseresolved photometry is warranted, which allows to verify the likely 2.5-hr orbital modulation and moreover to derive detailed properties of the binary (see Strader et al 2019 and references therein). Time-resolved photometry of PSR J1023+0038 in the disc state has revealed optical variations more complex than simple sinusoidal modulation, likely reflecting significant activity of the accretion disc (Shahbaz et al 2015;Papitto et al 2018;Shahbaz et al 2018;Kennedy et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sinusoidal-like modulation is commonly seen in low-mass X-ray binaries or pulsar binaries (see, e.g., van Paradijs & McClintock 1995;Strader et al 2019). The inner face of the companion star is heated by X-ray emission or pulsar wind from the central compact object.…”

Section: Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both redbacks and black widows are systems having the pulsar strongly ablate the low-mass companion, probably mainly via the pulsar wind. Currently more than 20 redbacks or candidates (in which the compact star has not been confirmed as a pulsar) have been found (see Strader et al 2019 and references therein). These redbacks or candidates were mostly first detected in Fermi LAT observations, and then were identified as compact binaries from mutli-wavelength observations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A compact X-ray emitting binary in likely association with 4FGL J0935.3+0901

Wang

Xing

Zhang

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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4FGL J0935.3+0901 is a γ-ray source detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. We have conducted detailed analysis of the LAT data for this source and multi-wavelength studies of the source field. Its γ-ray emission can be described with a power law (Γ = 2.0 ± 0.2) with an exponential cutoff (E c = 2.9 ± 1.6 GeV), while the flux shows significant long-term variations. From analysis of archival Neil Gehrels Swift X-ray Telescope data, we find only one Xray source in the LAT's 2σ error region. Within a 3. ′′ 7 radius error circle of the X-ray source, there is only one optical object down to r ′ ∼23 mag. Time-resolved photometry of the optical object indicates a likely 2.5 hr periodic modulation, while its spectrum shows double-peaked hydrogen and helium emission lines (similar to those seen in accretion discs in low-mass X-ray binaries). Combining these results, we conclude that we have discovered a compact X-ray emitting binary in likely association with 4FGL J0935.3+0901, i.e., a millisecond pulsar (MSP) binary. We discuss the implication of the optical spectral features: this binary could be a transitional MSP system at a subluminous disc state, although the other possibility, the binary in a rotation-powered state showing the optical emission lines due to intrabinary interaction processes, can not be excluded. Further observational studies will help determine detailed properties of this candidate MSP binary and thus clarify its current state.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A compact X-ray emitting binary in likely association with 4FGL J0935.3+0901

Wang

Xing

Zhang

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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“…This enhanced companion wind, and/or the intrabinary shock, may eclipse the radio pulsations. These systems fall into two major categories, "black widow" systems with brown dwarf companions of 0.02 M (Fruchter et al 1988;Stovall et al 2014), and "redback" systems with main sequence companions of typically ∼ 0.1-0.4 M (Lyne et al 1990;Ferraro et al 2001;Roberts 2013), but possibly higher companion masses up to 0.7-0.9 M (Strader et al 2019). The radio eclipses are often seen to encompass 10-25% of the full orbit, but the eclipse lengths can vary between orbits, and at low frequencies some systems appear to be permanently eclipsed (e.g.…”

Section: Eclipsing Millisecond Pulsarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The MAVERIC survey: a hidden pulsar and a black hole candidate in ATCA radio imaging of the globular cluster NGC 6397

Zhao

Heinke

Tudor

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Using a 16.2 hr radio observation by the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and archival Chandra data, we found > 5σ radio counterparts to 4 known and 3 new X-ray sources within the half-light radius (r h ) of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6397. The previously suggested millisecond pulsar (MSP) candidate, U18, is a steep-spectrum (S ν ∝ ν α ; α = −2.0 +0.4 −0.5 ) radio source with a 5.5 GHz flux density of 54.7 ± 4.3 µJy. We argue that U18 is most likely a "hidden" MSP that is continuously hidden by plasma shocked at the collision betwen the winds from the pulsar and companion star. The nondetection of radio pulsations so far is probably the result of enhanced scattering in this shocked wind. On the other hand, we observed the 5.5 GHz flux of the known MSP PSR J1740-5340 (U12) to decrease by a factor of >2.8 during epochs of 1.4 GHz eclipse, indicating that the radio flux is absorbed in its shocked wind. If U18 is indeed a pulsar whose pulsations are scattered, we note the contrast with U12's flux decrease in eclipse, which argues for two different eclipse mechanisms at the same radio frequency. In addition to U12 and U18, we also found radio associations for 5 other Chandra X-ray sources, four of which are likely background galaxies. The last, U97, which shows strong Hα variability, is mysterious; it may be either a quiescent black hole low-mass X-ray binary, or something more unusual.

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“…Spider pulsar systems are characterised by having a low-mass companion star in a compact orbit with an energetic millisecond pulsar (MSP) resulting in heavy irradiation of the companion by the pulsar's wind. The spider pulsar population has been observed to have a clearly bi-modal distribution of companion star masses (Roberts 2011;Strader et al 2019) made up of two distinct sub-groups: black widows (BW) with companion star masses ∼ 0.01-0.05M , and redbacks (RB) with companion star masses ∼ 0.1-1M . A large proportion of the spiders, whether BWs or RBs, have been observed to exhibit (quasi-)periodic eclipses of the pulsars' radio emission (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of spider pulsar binary eclipses and discovery of an eclipse mechanism transition

Polzin

Breton

Bhattacharyya

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We present a comparative study of the low-frequency eclipses of spider (compact, irradiating binary) PSRs B1957+20 and J1816+4510. Combining these data with those of three other eclipsing systems we study the frequency dependence of the eclipse duration. PSRs B1957+20 and J1816+4510 have similar orbital properties, but the companions to the pulsars have masses that differ by an order of magnitude. A dedicated campaign to simultaneously observe the pulsed and imaged continuum flux densities throughout the eclipses reveals many similarities between the excess material within the two binaries, irrespective of the companion star properties. The observations show that the pulsar fluxes are removed from the line of sight throughout the main body of the eclipses. For PSR J1816+4510 we present the first direct evidence of an eclipse mechanism that transitions from one that removes the pulsar flux from the line of sight to one that merely smears out pulsations, and claim that this is a consequence of scattering in a tail of material flowing behind the companion. Inferred mass loss rates from the companion stars are found to be M C ∼ 10 −12 M yr −1 and M C ∼ 2 × 10 −13 M yr −1 for PSR B1957+20 and PSR J1816+4510, respectively; seemingly too low to evaporate the stars within Hubble time. Measurements of eclipse durations over a wide range of radio-frequencies show a significant dependence of eclipse duration on frequency for all pulsars, with wider eclipses at lower-frequencies. These results provide a marked improvement in the observational constraints available for theoretical studies of the eclipse mechanisms.

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Optical Spectroscopy and Demographics of Redback Millisecond Pulsar Binaries

Cited by 126 publications

References 96 publications

A compact X-ray emitting binary in likely association with 4FGL J0935.3+0901

A compact X-ray emitting binary in likely association with 4FGL J0935.3+0901

The MAVERIC survey: a hidden pulsar and a black hole candidate in ATCA radio imaging of the globular cluster NGC 6397

Study of spider pulsar binary eclipses and discovery of an eclipse mechanism transition

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