Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | L15 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Volume | 832 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 16 Nov 2016 |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Nov 2016 |
Abstract
We report the discovery and timing measurements of PSR J1208-6238, a young and highly magnetized gamma-ray pulsar, with a spin period of 440 ms. The pulsar was discovered in gamma-ray photon data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) during a blind-search survey of unidentified LAT sources, running on the distributed volunteer computing system Einstein@Home. No radio pulsations were detected in dedicated follow-up searches with the Parkes radio telescope, with a flux density upper limit at 1369 MHz of 30 μJy. By timing this pulsar's gamma-ray pulsations, we measure its braking index over five years of LAT observations to be n = 2.598 ±0.001 ±0.1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second estimates the bias due to timing noise. Assuming its braking index has been similar since birth, the pulsar has an estimated age of around 2700 years, making it the youngest pulsar to be found in a blind search of gamma-ray data and the youngest known radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar. Despite its young age, the pulsar is not associated with any known supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula. The pulsar's inferred dipolar surface magnetic field strength is 3.8 ×1013 G, almost 90% of the quantum-critical level. We investigate some potential physical causes of the braking index deviating from the simple dipole model but find that LAT data covering a longer time interval will be necessary to distinguish between these.
Keywords
- gamma rays: stars, pulsars: individual (PSR J1208-6238)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Space and Planetary Science
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 832, No. 1, L15, 20.11.2016.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The Braking Index of a Radio-quiet Gamma-ray Pulsar
AU - Clark, C. J.
AU - Pletsch, H. J.
AU - Wu, J.
AU - Guillemot, L.
AU - Camilo, F.
AU - Johnson, T. J.
AU - Kerr, M.
AU - Allen, B.
AU - Aulbert, C.
AU - Beer, C.
AU - Bock, O.
AU - Cuéllar, A.
AU - Eggenstein, H. B.
AU - Fehrmann, H.
AU - Kramer, M.
AU - Machenschalk, B.
AU - Nieder, L.
N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ?(DFG) through an Emmy Noether research grant PL?710/1-1 (PI: Holger J. Pletsch), and by NSF award 1104902.
PY - 2016/11/20
Y1 - 2016/11/20
N2 - We report the discovery and timing measurements of PSR J1208-6238, a young and highly magnetized gamma-ray pulsar, with a spin period of 440 ms. The pulsar was discovered in gamma-ray photon data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) during a blind-search survey of unidentified LAT sources, running on the distributed volunteer computing system Einstein@Home. No radio pulsations were detected in dedicated follow-up searches with the Parkes radio telescope, with a flux density upper limit at 1369 MHz of 30 μJy. By timing this pulsar's gamma-ray pulsations, we measure its braking index over five years of LAT observations to be n = 2.598 ±0.001 ±0.1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second estimates the bias due to timing noise. Assuming its braking index has been similar since birth, the pulsar has an estimated age of around 2700 years, making it the youngest pulsar to be found in a blind search of gamma-ray data and the youngest known radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar. Despite its young age, the pulsar is not associated with any known supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula. The pulsar's inferred dipolar surface magnetic field strength is 3.8 ×1013 G, almost 90% of the quantum-critical level. We investigate some potential physical causes of the braking index deviating from the simple dipole model but find that LAT data covering a longer time interval will be necessary to distinguish between these.
AB - We report the discovery and timing measurements of PSR J1208-6238, a young and highly magnetized gamma-ray pulsar, with a spin period of 440 ms. The pulsar was discovered in gamma-ray photon data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) during a blind-search survey of unidentified LAT sources, running on the distributed volunteer computing system Einstein@Home. No radio pulsations were detected in dedicated follow-up searches with the Parkes radio telescope, with a flux density upper limit at 1369 MHz of 30 μJy. By timing this pulsar's gamma-ray pulsations, we measure its braking index over five years of LAT observations to be n = 2.598 ±0.001 ±0.1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second estimates the bias due to timing noise. Assuming its braking index has been similar since birth, the pulsar has an estimated age of around 2700 years, making it the youngest pulsar to be found in a blind search of gamma-ray data and the youngest known radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar. Despite its young age, the pulsar is not associated with any known supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula. The pulsar's inferred dipolar surface magnetic field strength is 3.8 ×1013 G, almost 90% of the quantum-critical level. We investigate some potential physical causes of the braking index deviating from the simple dipole model but find that LAT data covering a longer time interval will be necessary to distinguish between these.
KW - gamma rays: stars
KW - pulsars: individual (PSR J1208-6238)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84996551910&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.48550/arXiv.1611.01292
DO - 10.48550/arXiv.1611.01292
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84996551910
VL - 832
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
SN - 2041-8205
IS - 1
M1 - L15
ER -