ATNFSteeringCommittee–Astrophysicshighlights.docVIP

ATNF ATUC MEMORANDUM To: ATUC From: Lister Staveley-Smith Date: June 2, 2004 Subject: Recent Astrophysics highlights Some Recent Astrophysics highlights 1. The first-known double pulsar system There are 1500 known pulsars, of which 100 are members of a binary system. Four of the binary companions are high-mass stars; six or seven are believed to be neutron stars; and the rest are low-mass white dwarf or helium-core companions. Of the neutron star companions, none have previously been detected as pulsars. This is not surprising, since the detected pulsars have millisecond periods, having been spun-up through accretion from the massive companion progenitor. The resultant companion neutron star would however have no accretion source, would not be spun-up, and would therefore not be expected to have a detectable lifetime in excess of 107 yrs, compared with the ~109 yr lifetime of millisecond pulsars. The chances of finding a double pulsar system are therefore low. Figure 1: Constraints on the masses of the two pulsars J0737-3039A/B (Burgay et al. 2003, Lyne et al. 2004). However, a Parkes intermediate latitude pulsar survey has recently discovered such a system, PSR J0737-3039A/B (Lyne et al. 2004, Science, 303, 1153). The A-pulsar has a period of 22 ms, whilst the B-pulsar has a period of 2.77 sec. Not only is this system remarkable for being the first known double, but it is also a highly relativistic system with an orbital period of 2.4 hrs and a precession of periastron of 17 deg/yr (Burgay et al. 2003, Nature, 426, 531). This is four times the rate of the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar, and therefore allows more stringent tests of general relativity. A merger of the two pulsars is expected in 85 Myr, which is a third of the Hulse-Taylor merger time, and points to an overall neutron star-neutron star merger rate nearly an order of magnitude higher than previously believed in the Galaxy. This is of great interest for gravitational wave detection experiments. Thi