scholarly journals A multiwavelength search for black widow and redback counterparts of candidate γ-ray millisecond pulsars

2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (4) ◽  
pp. 5364-5382
Author(s):  
C Braglia ◽  
R P Mignani ◽  
A Belfiore ◽  
M Marelli ◽  
G L Israel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Black Widow ◽  
Machine Learning Technique ◽  
Millisecond Pulsars ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Learning Technique ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Γ Rays ◽  
Γ Ray

ABSTRACT The wealth of detections of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in γ-rays by Fermi has spurred searches for these objects among the several unidentified γ-ray sources. Interesting targets are a sub-class of binary MSPs, dubbed ‘black widows’ (BWs) and ‘redbacks’ (RBs), which are in orbit with low-mass non-degenerate companions fully or partially ablated by irradiation from the MSP wind. These systems can be easily missed in radio pulsar surveys owing to the eclipse of the radio signal by the intra-binary plasma from the ablated companion star photosphere, making them better targets for multiwavelength observations. We used optical and X-ray data from public data bases to carry out a systematic investigation of all the unidentified γ-ray sources from the Fermi Large Area Telescope Third Source Catalog, which have been pre-selected as likely MSP candidates according to a machine-learning technique analysis. We tested our procedure by recovering known binary BW/RB identifications and searched for new ones, finding two possible candidates. At the same time, we investigated previously proposed BW/RB identifications and we ruled out one of them based upon the updated γ-ray source coordinates.

scholarly journals High Energy Radiation from Spider Pulsars

Galaxies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung Yue Hui ◽  
Kwan Lok Li
Keyword(s):  
High Energy ◽  
X Rays ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Large Area ◽  
High Energy Radiation ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Compact Binaries ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Γ Rays ◽  
Γ Ray

The population of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) has been expanded considerably in the last decade. Not only is their number increasing, but also various classes of them have been revealed. Among different classes of MSPs, the behaviours of black widows and redbacks are particularly interesting. These systems consist of an MSP and a low-mass companion star in compact binaries with an orbital period of less than a day. In this article, we give an overview of the high energy nature of these two classes of MSPs. Updated catalogues of black widows and redbacks are presented and their X-ray/ γ -ray properties are reviewed. Besides the overview, using the most updated eight-year Fermi Large Area Telescope point source catalog, we have compared the γ -ray properties of these two MSP classes. The results suggest that the X-rays and γ -rays observed from these MSPs originate from different mechanisms. Lastly, we will also mention the future prospects of studying these spider pulsars with the novel methodologies as well as upcoming observing facilities.

scholarly journals A Possible Discovery of a Flaring 1012 eV Gamma-Ray Source near the Red Dwarf EV Lac

1995 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 78-79
Author(s):  
I.Yu. Alekseev ◽  
N.N. Chalenko ◽  
V.P. Fomin ◽  
R.E. Gershberg ◽  
O.R. Kalekin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Electronic Device ◽  
Angular Size ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Optical Systems ◽  
Relativistic Electrons ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Γ Rays ◽  
Γ Ray ◽  
Ev Lac

During the 1994 coordinated observations of the red dwarf flare star EV Lac, the star was monitored in the very high energy (VHE) γ-ray range around 1012 eV with the Crimean ground-based γ-ray telescope GT-48. This telescope consists of two identical optical systems (Vladimirsky et al. 1994) which were directed in parallel on EV Lac.The detection principle of the VHE γ-rays is based on the Čerenkov radiation emitted by relativistic electrons and positrons. The latter are generated in the interaction of the γ-rays with nuclei in the Earth’s atmosphere that leads to an appearance of a shower of charged particles and γ-quanta. The duration of the Cherenkov radiation flash is very short, just about a few nanoseconds. The angular size of the shower is ∼ 1°. To detect such flashes we use an optical system with large area mirrors and a set of 37 photomultipliers (PMs) in the focal plane. Using the information from these PMs which are spaced hexagonally and correspond to a field of view of 2°.6 on the sky, we can obtain the image of an optical flash. The electronic device permits us to detect nanosecond flashes (40 ns exposure time and 12 μs readout dead-time).

scholarly journals A geomagnetic filter for the Fermi-LAT background

2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (4) ◽  
pp. 5440-5450
Author(s):  
D A Prokhorov ◽  
A Moraghan
Keyword(s):  
Charged Particles ◽  
Discrete Source ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Shielding Effect ◽  
Earth Orbit ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Γ Rays ◽  
Γ Ray

ABSTRACT One of the unsolved questions in γ-ray astronomy is whether the extragalactic γ-ray background is of the discrete-source origin. To respond to this question, one first needs to reduce the data by differentiating charged particles from γ-rays. This procedure is usually performed on the basis of the detector responses. In this paper, we showed that the geomagnetic shielding effect at GeV energies can, to some extent, be used for this purpose for γ-ray telescopes in a low Earth orbit. We illustrated this method by applying it to the Fermi Large Area Telescope data. To partially decompose the charge-filtered background, we examined the contribution from star-forming galaxies by implying a radio/γ-ray connection in consideration of next-generation radio surveys.

scholarly journals Extreme and high synchrotron peak blazars beyond 4FGL: The 2BIGB γ-ray catalogue

2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (2) ◽  
pp. 2438-2451
Author(s):  
B Arsioli ◽  
Y-L Chang ◽  
B Musiimenta
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
Broad Band ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Data Repositories ◽  
Total Contribution ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Γ Ray

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of a γ-ray likelihood analysis over all the extreme and high synchrotron peak blazars (EHSP and HSP) from the 3HSP catalogue. We investigate 2013 multifrequency positions under the eyes of Fermi Large Area Telescope, considering 11 yr of observations in the energy range between 500 MeV and 500 GeV, which results in 1160 γ-ray signatures detected down to the TS=9 threshold. The detections include 235 additional sources concerning the Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog (4FGL), all confirmed via high-energy TS (Test Statistic) maps, and represent an improvement of ∼25 per cent for the number of EHSP and HSP currently described in γ-rays. We build the γ-ray spectral energy distribution (SED) for all the 1160 2BIGB sources, plot the corresponding γ-ray logN−logS, and measure their total contribution to the extragalactic gamma-ray background, which reaches up to ∼33 per cent at 100 GeV. Also, we show that the γ-ray detectability improves according to the synchrotron peak flux as represented by the figure of merit parameter, and note that the search for TeV peaked blazars may benefit from considering HSP and EHSP as a whole, instead of EHSPs only. The 2BIGB acronym stands for ‘Second Brazil-ICRANet Gamma-ray Blazars’ catalogue, and all the broad-band models and SED data points will be available on public data repositories (OpenUniverse, GitHub, and Brazilian Science Data Center-BSDC).

scholarly journals Timing of PSR J2055+3829, an eclipsing black widow pulsar discovered with the Nançay Radio Telescope

2019 ◽  
Vol 629 ◽  
pp. A92 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Guillemot ◽  
F. Octau ◽  
I. Cognard ◽  
G. Desvignes ◽  
P. C. C. Freire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Telescope ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Radio Signal ◽  
Galactic Disk ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Black Widow ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Mass Functions

We report on the timing observations of the millisecond pulsar PSR J2055+3829 originally discovered as part of the SPAN512 survey conducted with the Nançay Radio Telescope. The pulsar has a rotational period of 2.089 ms and is in a tight 3.1 h orbit around a very low mass (0.023 ≤ mc ≲ 0.053 M⊙, 90% c.l.) companion. Our 1.4 GHz observations reveal the presence of eclipses of the radio signal of the pulsar, caused by the outflow of material from the companion, for a few minutes around superior conjunction of the pulsar. The very low companion mass, the observation of radio eclipses, and the detection of time variations of the orbital period establish PSR J2055+3829 as a “black widow” (BW) pulsar. Inspection of the radio signal from the pulsar during ingress and egress phases shows that the eclipses in PSR J2055+3829 are asymmetric and variable, as is commonly observed in other similar systems. More generally, the orbital properties of the new pulsar are found to be very similar to those of other known eclipsing BW pulsars. No gamma-ray source has been detected at the location of the pulsar in recent Fermi-LAT source catalogs. We used the timing ephemeris to search ten years of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data for gamma-ray pulsations, but were unable to detect any. This non-detection could be a consequence of the large distance of the pulsar compared to those of known gamma-ray millisecond pulsars outside of globular clusters. We finally compared the mass functions of eclipsing and non-eclipsing BW pulsars and confirmed previous findings that eclipsing BWs have higher mass functions than their non-eclipsing counterparts. Larger inclinations could explain the higher mass functions of eclipsing BWs. On the other hand, the mass function distributions of Galactic disk and globular cluster BWs appear to be consistent, suggesting, despite the very different environments, the existence of common mechanisms taking place in the last stages of evolution of BWs.

scholarly journals Searching for Gamma-Ray Millisecond Pulsars: Selection of Candidates Revisited

Galaxies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Xuejie Dai ◽  
Zhongxiang Wang ◽  
Jithesh Vadakkumthani
Keyword(s):  
Point Source ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Previous Analysis ◽  
Test Statistic ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Millisecond Pulsars ◽  
Multi Wavelength ◽  
Γ Ray ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Selection Of

We are starting a project to find γ -ray millisecond pulsars (MSPs) among the unidentified sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (Fermi), by radio observations. The selection of good candidates from analysis of the LAT data is an important part of the project. Given that there is more than 10 years worth of LAT data and the advent of the newly released LAT 8-year point source list (FL8Y), we have conducted a selection analysis, on the basis of our previous analysis, and report the results here. Setting the requirements for the unidentified sources in FL8Y of Galactic latitudes | b | > 5 ∘ and curvature significances >3 σ , there are 202 sources with detection signficances >6 σ . We select 57 relatively bright ones (detection significances >15 σ ) and analyze their 10.2 years of LAT data. Their variability is checked to exclude variable sources (likely blazars), test statistic maps are constructed to avoid contaminated sources, and curvature significances are re-obtained and compared to their γ -ray spectra to exclude non-significant sources. In the end, 48 candidates are found. Based on the available information, mostly from multi-wavelength studies, we discuss the possible nature of several of the candidates. Most of these candidates are currently being observed with the 65-meter Shanghai Tian Ma Radio Telescope.

scholarly journals Timing observations of three Galactic millisecond pulsars

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
D R Lorimer ◽  
A M Kawash ◽  
P C C Freire ◽  
D A Smith ◽  
M Kerr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Binary Systems ◽  
Galactic Disk ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Orbital Eccentricity ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Millisecond Pulsars ◽  
Spin Period ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Orbital Periods ◽  
Current Sample

Abstract We report observed and derived timing parameters for three millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from observations collected with the Parkes 64-m telescope, Murriyang. The pulsars were found during re-processing of archival survey data by Mickaliger et al. One of the new pulsars (PSR J1546–5925) has a spin period P = 7.8 ms and is isolated. The other two (PSR J0921–5202 with P = 9.7 ms and PSR J1146–6610 with P = 3.7 ms) are in binary systems around low-mass (>0.2 M⊙) companions. Their respective orbital periods are 38.2 d and 62.8 d. While PSR J0921–5202 has a low orbital eccentricity e = 1.3 × 10−5, in keeping with many other Galactic MSPs, PSR J1146–6610 has a significantly larger eccentricity, e = 7.4 × 10−3. This makes it a likely member of a group of eccentric MSP–He white dwarf binary systems in the Galactic disk whose formation is poorly understood. Two of the pulsars are co-located with previously unidentified point sources discovered with the Fermi satellite’s Large Area Telescope, but no γ-ray pulsations have been detected, likely due to their low spin-down powers. We also show that, particularly in terms of orbital diversity, the current sample of MSPs is far from complete and is subject to a number of selection biases.

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

2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (4) ◽  
pp. 4845-4851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongxiang Wang ◽  
Yi Xing ◽  
Jujia Zhang ◽  
Konstantina Boutsia ◽  
Gege Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Optical Emission ◽  
Emission Lines ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Current State ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Γ Ray ◽  
Error Circle

ABSTRACT 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 multiwavelength studies of the source field. Its γ-ray emission can be described with a power law (Γ = 2.0 ± 0.2) with an exponential cut-off (Ec = 2.9 ± 1.6 GeV), while the flux shows significant long-term variations. From analysis of archival Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory X-Ray Telescope data, we find only one X-ray source in the LAT’s 2σ error region. Within a $3.7\,{\rm arcsec}$ 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 h 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, cannot be excluded. Further observational studies will help to determine detailed properties of this candidate MSP binary and thus clarify its current state.

scholarly journals X-ray spectroscopy of the γ-ray brightest nova V906 Car (ASASSN-18fv)

2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (3) ◽  
pp. 2569-2585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirill V Sokolovsky ◽  
Koji Mukai ◽  
Laura Chomiuk ◽  
Raimundo Lopes de Oliveira ◽  
Elias Aydi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Radiative Shock ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Classical Novae ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Γ Rays ◽  
Γ Ray ◽  
X Ray Absorption ◽  
Shock Fronts

ABSTRACT Shocks in γ-ray emitting classical novae are expected to produce bright thermal and non-thermal X-rays. We test this prediction with simultaneous NuSTAR and Fermi/LAT observations of nova V906 Car, which exhibited the brightest GeV γ-ray emission to date. The nova is detected in hard X-rays while it is still γ-ray bright, but contrary to simple theoretical expectations, the detected 3.5–78 keV emission of V906 Car is much weaker than the simultaneously observed >100 MeV emission. No non-thermal X-ray emission is detected, and our deep limits imply that the γ-rays are likely hadronic. After correcting for substantial absorption (NH ≈ 2 × 1023 cm−2), the thermal X-ray luminosity (from a 9 keV optically thin plasma) is just ∼2 per cent of the γ-ray luminosity. We consider possible explanations for the low thermal X-ray luminosity, including the X-rays being suppressed by corrugated, radiative shock fronts or the X-rays from the γ-ray producing shock are hidden behind an even larger absorbing column (NH > 1025 cm−2). Adding XMM–Newton and Swift/XRT observations to our analysis, we find that the evolution of the intrinsic X-ray absorption requires the nova shell to be expelled 24 d after the outburst onset. The X-ray spectra show that the ejecta are enhanced in nitrogen and oxygen, and the nova occurred on the surface of a CO-type white dwarf. We see no indication of a distinct supersoft phase in the X-ray light curve, which, after considering the absorption effects, may point to a low mass of the white dwarf hosting the nova.

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