The young pulsar J1740-3052 is in an 8-month orbit with a companion of at least 11 solar masses. We present multifrequency GBT and Parkes timing observations, and discuss implications for the nature of the companion.
PSR J1740-3052 is a young pulsar in orbit around a companion that is most likely a B-type main-sequence star. Since its discovery more than a decade ago, data have been taken at several frequencies with instruments at the Green Bank, Parkes, Lovell, and Westerbork telescopes. We measure scattering timescales in the pulse profiles and dispersion measure changes as a function of binary orbital phase and present evidence that both of these vary as would be expected due to a wind from the companion star. Using pulse arrival times that have been corrected for the observed periodic dispersion measure changes, we find a timing solution spanning 1997 November to 2011 March. This includes measurements of the advance of periastron and the change in the projected semimajor axis of the orbit and sets constraints on the orbital geometry. From these constraints, we estimate that the pulsar received a kick of at least ~50 km/s at birth. A quasi-periodic signal is present in the timing residuals with a period of 2.2 times the binary orbital period. The origin of this signal is unclear.
We report on the identification of a near-infrared counterpart to the massive (>11 Msun) binary companion of pulsar J1740-3052. An accurate celestial position of PSR J1740-3052 is determined from interferometric radio observations. Adaptive optics corrected near-infrared imaging observations show a counterpart at the interferometric position of the pulsar. The counterpart has Ks=15.87+-0.10 and J-Ks>0.83. Based on distance and absorption estimates from models of the Galactic electron and dust distributions these observed magnitudes are consistent with those of a main-sequence star as the binary companion. We argue that this counterpart is the binary companion to PSR J1740-3052 and thus rule out a stellar mass black hole as the pulsar companion.
In this paper we present recent Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) observations of the pulsar J1740+1000. We confirm that its spectrum has a turnover at 260 MHz, which is unusual for a typical pulsar. We argue that in this case interferometric imaging provides more accurate pulsar flux estimates than other, more traditional, means such as beamformed observations. We conclude that existing calibration and imaging techniques can be used for a more comprehensive study of the influence of the interstellar medium on the point-like sources at very low frequencies in the near future.
Pulsars in relativistic binary systems have emerged as fantastic natural laboratories for testing theories of gravity, the most prominent example being the double pulsar, PSR J0737$-$3039. The HTRU-South Low Latitude pulsar survey represents one of the most sensitive blind pulsar surveys taken of the southern Galactic plane to date, and its primary aim has been the discovery of new relativistic binary pulsars. Here we present our binary pulsar searching strategy and report on the surveys flagship discovery, PSR J1757$-$1854. A 21.5-ms pulsar in a relativistic binary with an orbital period of 4.4 hours and an eccentricity of 0.61, this double neutron star (DNS) system is the most accelerated pulsar binary known, and probes a relativistic parameter space not yet explored by previous pulsar binaries.
Massive black holes are key components of the assembly and evolution of cosmic structures and a number of surveys are currently on-going or planned to probe the demographics of these objects and to gain insight into the relevant physical processes. Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) currently provide the only means to observe gravitational radiation from massive black hole binary systems with masses >10^7 solar masses. The whole cosmic population produces a stochastic background that could be detectable with upcoming Pulsar Timing Arrays. Sources sufficiently close and/or massive generate gravitational radiation that significantly exceeds the level of the background and could be individually resolved. We consider a wide range of massive black hole binary assembly scenarios, we investigate the distribution of the main physical parameters of the sources, such as masses and redshift, and explore the consequences for Pulsar Timing Arrays observations. Depending on the specific massive black hole population model, we estimate that on average at least one resolvable source produces timing residuals in the range ~5-50 ns. Pulsar Timing Arrays, and in particular the future Square Kilometre Array (SKA), can plausibly detect these unique systems, although the events are likely to be rare. These observations would naturally complement on the high-mass end of the massive black hole distribution function future surveys carried out by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)