Optical, ultraviolet, and infrared observations of isolated neutron stars

Mignani, Roberto

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2009.12.011

Cited by 70 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 126 publications

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“…One is an MSP in a binary system, only detected in the near-UV (PSR J0437−4715). All were identified prior to the launch of Fermi, mostly in the 1990s (Mignani 2011). In the last decade possible counterparts were found for PSR B1951+32 (Butler et al 2002) and the solitary MSP PSR J1024−0719 (Sutaria et al 2003), prior to their detection as gamma-ray pulsars.…”

Section: Optical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

THE SECOND FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE CATALOG OF GAMMA-RAY PULSARS

Abdo¹,

Ajello²,

Allafort³

et al. 2013

ApJS

837

1,129

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This catalog summarizes 117 high-confidence 0.1 GeV gamma-ray pulsar detections using three years of data acquired by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi satellite. Half are neutron stars discovered using LAT data through periodicity searches in gamma-ray and radio data around LAT unassociated source positions. The 117 pulsars are evenly divided into three groups: millisecond pulsars, young radio-loud pulsars, and young radio-quiet pulsars. We characterize the pulse profiles and energy spectra and derive luminosities when distance information exists. Spectral analysis of the off-peak phase intervals indicates probable pulsar wind nebula emission for four pulsars, and off-peak magnetospheric emission for several young and millisecond pulsars. We compare the gammaray properties with those in the radio, optical, and X-ray bands. We provide flux limits for pulsars with no observed gamma-ray emission, highlighting a small number of gamma-faint, radio-loud pulsars. The large, varied gamma-ray pulsar sample constrains emission models. Fermi's selection biases complement those of radio surveys, enhancing comparisons with predicted population distributions.

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Section: Optical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

THE SECOND FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE CATALOG OF GAMMA-RAY PULSARS

Abdo¹,

Ajello²,

Allafort³

et al. 2013

ApJS

837

1,129

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“…Historically discovered in radio, pulsars emit across the whole electromagnetic spectrum, from the radio, to the optical (Mignani 2011), to the X-rays (Becker 2009), and to high-energy γ-rays (Abdo et al 2010a). The pulsar optical emission is due to the combination of two different processes: synchrotron radiation from relativistic electrons in the neutron star magnetosphere and thermal radiation from the cooling neutron star surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The near-infrared detection of PSR B0540–69 and its nebula

Mignani

Luca

Hummel

et al. 2012

A&A

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Context. The ∼1700 year old PSR B0540−69 in the Large Magellanic Clouds (LMC) is considered the twin of the Crab pulsar because of its similar spin parameters, magnetic field, and energetics. PSR B0540−69 (V ∼ 22.5) is also one of the very few pulsars for which both optical pulsations and polarised emission have been measured. Its optical spectrum is fit by a power-law, ascribed to synchrotron radiation, like for the young Crab and Vela pulsars. At variance with them, however, a double break is required to join the X-ray and optical power-law spectra, with the first one possibly occurring in the near ultraviolet (nUV). Aims. Near-infrared (nIR) observations, never performed for PSR B0540−69, are crucial to determine whether the optical power-law spectrum extends to longer wavelengths or a new break occurs, like it happens for both the Crab and Vela pulsars in the mid-infrared (mIR), hinting at an even more complex particle energy and density distribution in the pulsar magnetosphere. Methods. We observed PSR B0540−69 in the J, H, and K S bands with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to detect it, for the first time, in the nIR and characterise its optical-to-nIR spectrum. To disentangle the pulsar emission from that of its pulsar wind nebula (PWN), we obtained high-spatial resolution adaptive optics images with the NAOS-CONICA instrument (NACO). Results. We could clearly identify PSR B0540−69 in our J, H, and K S -band images and measure its flux (J = 20.14, H = 19.33, K S = 18.55, with an overall error of ±0.1 mag in each band). The joint fit to the available optical and nIR photometry with a powerlaw spectrum F ν ∝ ν −α gives a spectral index α = 0.70 ± 0.04, slightly more precise than measured in the optical only. This clearly implies that there is no spectral break between the optical and the nIR. We also detected, for the first time, the PSR B0540−69 PWN in the nIR. The comparison between our NACO images and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) optical ones does not reveal any apparent difference in the PWN morphology as a function of wavelength. The PWN optical-to-nIR spectrum is also fit by a single power-law, with spectral index α = 0.56 ± 0.03, slightly flatter than the pulsar's. Conclusions. Using NACO at the VLT, we obtained the first detection of PSR B0540−69 and its PWN in the nIR. Due to the small angular scale of the PWN (∼4 ) only the spatial resolution of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will make it possible to extend the study of the pulsar and PWN spectrum towards the mid-IR.

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“…With our VLT measurement, linear polarisation values have now been obtained for all the five brightest pulsars identified in the optical (Mignani 2011). Table 1 summarises all the measurements obtained from phase-averaged imaging polarimetry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence of a similar alignment has been found from optical polarisation measurements of the Vela pulsar (PSR B0833−45; V ∼ 23.6) by Mignani et al (2007) and Moran et al (2014), whereas for both PSR B0540−69 (V = 22.5) and PSR B1509−58 (R = 25.7) the lack of a measured proper motion makes it impossible to check the alignment with the polarisation direction (Mignani et al 2010;Lundqvist et al 2011;Wagner & Seifert 2000). The next best target is PSR B0656+14, the brightest pulsar detected in the optical after Vela (Mignani 2011). PSR B0656+14 (V ∼ 25) is a middle-aged (∼10 5 years) optical pulsar (Shearer et al 1997;Kern et al 2003;Kargaltsev & Pavlov 2007) with strong magnetospheric optical emission (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

VLT polarimetry observations of the middle-aged pulsar PSR B0656+14

Mignani

Moran

Shearer

et al. 2015

A&A

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Context. Optical polarisation measurements are key tests for different models of the pulsar magnetosphere. Furthermore, comparing the relative orientation of the phase-averaged linear polarisation direction and the pulsar proper motion vector may unveil a peculiar alignment, clearly seen in the Crab pulsar. Aims. Our goal is to obtain the first measurement of the phase-averaged optical linear polarisation of the fifth brightest optical pulsar, PSR B0656+14, which also has a precisely measured proper motion, and to verify a possible alignment between the polarisation direction and the proper motion vector. Methods. We carried out observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to measure the phase-averaged optical polarisation degree (PD) and position angle (PA) of PSR B0656+14. Results. We measured a PD of 11.9% ± 5.5% and a PA of 125.8 • ± 13.2 • , measured east of north. Albeit of marginal significance, this is the first measurement of the phase-averaged optical PD for this pulsar. Moreover, we found that the PA of the phase-averaged polarisation vector is close to that of the pulsar proper motion (93.12 • ± 0.38 • ). Conclusions. Deeper observations are needed to confirm our polarisation measurement of PSR B0656+14, whereas polarisation measurements for more pulsars will better assess possible correlations of the polarisation degree with the pulsar parameters.

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Optical, ultraviolet, and infrared observations of isolated neutron stars

Cited by 70 publications

References 126 publications

THE SECOND FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE CATALOG OF GAMMA-RAY PULSARS

THE SECOND FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE CATALOG OF GAMMA-RAY PULSARS

The near-infrared detection of PSR B0540–69 and its nebula

VLT polarimetry observations of the middle-aged pulsar PSR B0656+14

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