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Radio Timing and Optical Photometry of the Black Widow System PSR J1518+0204C in the Globular Cluster M5
- Source :
- Astrophysical Journal, 795(1). IOP Publishing Ltd., The Astrophysical Journal
- Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- We report on the determination of astrometric, spin and orbital parameters for PSR J1518+0204C, a "black widow" binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster M5. The accurate position and orbital parameters obtained from radio timing allowed us to search for the optical companion. By using WFC3/HST images we identified a very faint variable star (m_F390W > 24.8, m_F606W > 24.3, m_F814W > 23.1) located at only 0.25" from the pulsar's timing position. Due to its strong variability, this star is visible only in a sub-sample of images. However, the light curve obtained folding the available data with the orbital parameters of the pulsar shows a maximum at the pulsar inferior conjunction and a possible minimum at the pulsar superior conjunction. Furthermore, the shape of the optical modulation indicates a heating process possibly due to the pulsar wind. This is the first identification of an optical companion to a black widow pulsar in the dense stellar environment of a globular cluster.<br />Accepted for publication by ApJ; 24 Pages, 5 Figures, 1 Table
- Subjects :
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science
globular clusters: individual (M5, NGC 5904) – pulsars: individual (PSR J1518+0204C) – techniques: photometric
Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
FOS: Physical sciences
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0004637X
- Volume :
- 795
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Astrophysical Journal
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9a7a9071feba4a8d6141a9bc0695d727