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X-ray Radiation from the Millisecond Pulsar J0437-4715

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 نشر من قبل Vyacheslav Zavlin
 تاريخ النشر 2001
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English
 تأليف V.E. Zavlin




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We report on spectral and timing observations of the nearest millisecond pulsar J0437-4715 with Chandra. The pulsar spectrum, detected up to 7 keV, cannot be described by a simple one-component model. We suggest that it consists of two components, a nonthermal power-law spectrum generated in the pulsar magnetosphere, with a photon index about 2, and a thermal spectrum emitted by heated polar caps, with a temperature decreasing outwards from 2 MK to 0.5 MK. The lack of spectral features in the thermal component suggests that the neutron star surface is covered by a hydrogen (or helium) atmosphere. The timing analysis shows one X-ray pulse per period, with a pulsed fraction of about 40% and the peak at the same pulse phase as the radio peak. No synchrotron pulsar-wind nebula is seen in the X-rays.

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