Pulsar spin-down: the glitch-dominated rotation of PSR J0537-6910

The young, fast-spinning, X-ray pulsar J0537-6910 displays an extreme glitch activity, with large spin-ups interrupting its decelerating rotation every ~100 days. We present nearly 13 years of timing data from this pulsar, obtained with the {\it Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer}. We discovered 22 new glitches and performed a consistent analysis of all 45 glitches detected in the complete data span. Our results corroborate the previously reported strong correlation between glitch spin-up size and the time to the next glitch, a relation that has not been observed so far in any other pulsar. The spin evolution is dominated by the glitches, which occur at a rate ~3.5 per year, and the post-glitch recoveries, which prevail the entire inter-glitch intervals. This distinctive behaviour provides invaluable insights into the physics of glitches. The observations can be explained with a multi-component model which accounts for the dynamics of the neutron superfluid present in the crust and core of neutron stars. We place limits on the moment of inertia of the component responsible for the spin-up and, ignoring differential rotation, the velocity difference it can sustain with the crust. Contrary to its rapid decrease between glitches, the spin-down rate increased over the 13 years, and we find the long-term braking index $n_{\rm l}=-1.22(4)$, the only negative braking index seen in a young pulsar. We briefly discuss the plausible interpretations of this result, which is in stark contrast to the predictions of standard models of pulsar spin-down.Comment: Minor changes to match the MNRAS accepted versio

The 2-10 keV emission properties of PSR B1937+21

We present the results of a BeppoSAX observation of the fastest pulsar known: PSR B1937+21. The ~ 200 ks observation (78.5 (34) ks MECS (LECS) exposure times) allowed us to investigate with high statistical significance both the spectral properties and the pulse profile shape. The absorbed power law spectral model gave a photon index of ~ 1.7 and N_H ~ 2.3 x 10^22 cm^-2. These values explain both a) the ROSAT non-detection and b) the deviant estimate of a photon index of ~ 0.8 obtained by ASCA. The pulse profile appears, for the first time, clearly double peaked with the main component much stronger than the other. The statistical significance is 10 sigma (main peak) and 5 sigma (secondary peak). The 1.6-10 keV pulsed fraction is consistent with 100%; only in the 1.6-4 keV band there is a ~ 2 sigma indication for a DC component. The secondary peak is detected significantly only for energies above 3 / 4 keV. The unabsorbed (2-10 keV) flux is F_2-10 = 3.7 x 10^-13 erg cm^-2 s^-1, implying a luminosity of L_X = 4.6 x 10^31 Theta (d/3.6 kpc)^2 erg s^-1 and an X-ray efficiency of eta = 4 x 10^-5 Theta, where Theta is the solid angle spanned by the emission beam. These results are in agreement with those obtained by ASCA.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. To appear in the Proceedings of the 270. WE-Heraeus Seminar on Neutron Stars, Pulsars and Supernova Remnants, Jan. 21-25, 2002, Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, eds W. Becker, H. Lesch & J. Truemper. Proceedings are available as MPE-Report 27

The transitional millisecond pulsar IGR J18245-2452 during its 2013 outburst at X-rays and soft gamma-rays

IGR~J18245--2452/PSR J1824--2452I is one of the rare transitional accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars, showing direct evidence of switches between states of rotation powered radio pulsations and accretion powered X-ray pulsations, dubbed transitional pulsars. IGR~J18245--2452 is the only transitional pulsar so far to have shown a full accretion episode, reaching an X-ray luminosity of $\sim10^{37}$~erg~s$^{-1}$ permitting its discovery with INTEGRAL in 2013. In this paper, we report on a detailed analysis of the data collected with the IBIS/ISGRI and the two JEM-X monitors on-board INTEGRAL at the time of the 2013 outburst. We make use of some complementary data obtained with the instruments on-board XMM-Newton and Swift in order to perform the averaged broad-band spectral analysis of the source in the energy range 0.4 -- 250~keV. We have found that this spectrum is the hardest among the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars. We improved the ephemeris, now valid across its full outburst, and report the detection of pulsed emission up to $\sim60$ keV in both the ISGRI ($10.9 \sigma$) and Fermi/GBM ($5.9 \sigma$) bandpass. The alignment of the ISGRI and Fermi GBM 20 -- 60 keV pulse profiles are consistent at a $\sim25\ \mu$s level. We compared the pulse profiles obtained at soft X-rays with \xmm\ with the soft \gr-ray ones, and derived the pulsed fractions of the fundamental and first harmonic, as well as the time lag of the fundamental harmonic, up to $150\ \mu$s, as a function of energy. We report on a thermonuclear X-ray burst detected with \Integ, and using the properties of the previously type-I X-ray burst, we show that all these events are powered primarily by helium ignited at a depth of $y_{\rm ign} \approx 2.7\times10^8$ g cm${}^{-2}$. For such a helium burst the estimated recurrence time of $\Delta t_{\rm rec}\approx5.6$ d is in agreement with the observations.Comment: 10 pages, 6 Figures, 3 Tables Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal, accepted for publication on the 13th of April 201

BeppoSAX observation of PSR B1937+21

We present the results of a BeppoSAX observation of the fastest rotating pulsar known: PSR B1937+21. The ~200 ks observation (78.5 ks MECS/34 ks LECS on-source time) allowed us to investigate with high statistical significance both the spectral properties and the pulse profile shape. The pulse profile is clearly double peaked at energies > ~4 keV. Peak widths are compatible with the instrumental time resolution and the second pulse lags the main pulse 0.52 in phase, like is the case in the radio. In the 1.3-4 keV band we detect a ~45% DC component; conversely the 4-10 keV pulsed fraction is consistent with 100%. The on-pulse spectrum is fitted with an absorbed power-law of spectral index ~1.2, harder than that of the total flux which is ~1.9. The total unabsorbed (2-10 keV) flux is F_{2-10} = 4.1 10^-13 cgs, implying a luminosity of L_X = 5.0 10^31 \Theta (d/3.6 kpc)^2 erg s^-1 and a X-ray efficiency of \eta = 4.5 10^-5 \Theta, where \Theta is the solid angle spanned by the emission beam. These results are in agreement with those obtained by ASCA and a more recent Rossi-XTE observation. The hydrogen column density N_H ~2 10^22 cm^-2 is ~10 times higher than expected from the radio dispersion measure and average Galactic density of e-. Though it is compatible (within 2\sigma) with the Galactic (HI derived) value of ~1 10^22 cm^-2, inspection of dust extinction maps reveal that the pulsar falls in a highly absorbed region. In addition, 1.4 GHz radio map shows that the nearby (likely unrelated) HII source 4C21.53W is part of a circular emission region ~4' across.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in A&

Accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars: 10 years of INTEGRAL observations

During the last 10 years, INTEGRAL made a unique contribution to the study of accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars (AMXPs), discovering three of the 14 sources now known of this class. Besides increasing the number of known AMXPs, INTEGRAL also carried out observations of these objects above 20 keV, substantially advancing our understanding of their behaviour. We present here a review of all the AMXPs observed with INTEGRAL and discuss the physical interpretation of their behaviour in the X-ray domain. We focus in particular on the lightcurve profile during outburst, as well as the timing, spectral, and thermonuclear type-I X-ray bursts properties.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures. Proceedings of "An INTEGRAL view of the high-energy sky (the first 10 years)" the 9th INTEGRAL Workshop, October 15-19, 2012, Paris, Franc

Discovery of hard non-thermal pulsed X-ray emission from the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 1841-045

We report the discovery of non-thermal pulsed X-ray/soft gamma-ray emission up to about 150 keV from the anomalous X-ray pulsar AXP 1E 1841-045 located near the centre of supernova remnant Kes 73 using RXTE PCA and HEXTE data. The morphology of the double-peaked pulse profile changes rapidly with energy from 2 keV up to about 8 keV, above which the pulse shape remains more or less stable. The pulsed spectrum is very hard, its shape above 10 keV can be described well by a power law with a photon index of 0.94 +/- 0.16. 1E 1841-045 is the first AXP for which such very-hard pulsed emission has been detected, which points to an origin in the magnetosphere of a magnetar.Comment: 14 pages in ApJ preprint style, 5 figures one in color, Submitted to Ap

Low frequency VLBI in space using GAS-Can satellites: Report on the May 1987 JPL Workshop

Summarized are the results of a workshop held at JPL on May 28 and 29, 1987, to study the feasibility of using small, very inexpensive spacecraft for a low-frequency radio interferometer array. Many technical aspects of a mission to produce high angular resolution images of the entire sky at frequencies from 2 to 20 MHz were discussed. The workshop conclusion was that such a mission was scientifically valuable and technically practical. A useful array could be based on six or more satellites no larger than those launched from Get-Away-Special canisters. The cost of each satellite could be $1-2M, and the mass less than 90 kg. Many details require further study, but as this report shows, there is good reason to proceed. No fundamental problems have been discovered involving the use of untraditional, very inexpensive spacecraft for this type of mission

COMPTEL measurements of MeV gamma-ray burst spectra

We present results from the on-going spectral analysis of gamma-ray bursts measured by the COMPTEL instrument in its main Compton “Telescope” observing mode (0.75–30 MeV). Thus far, 18 bursts have been analyzed from three years (April 1991–April 1994) of observations. The time-averaged spectra of these events above 1 MeV are all consistent with a simple power law model with spectral index in the range 1.5–3.5. Exponential, thermal bremsstrahlung and thermal synchrotron models are statistically inconsistent with the burst sample, although they can adequately describe some of the individual burst spectra. We find good agreement between burst spectra measured simultaneously by BATSE, COMPTEL and EGRET, which typically show a spectral transition or “break” in the BATSE energy range around a few hundred keV followed by simple power law emission extending to hundreds of MeV. However, the temporal relation between MeV and GeV (e.g., as measured by EGRET) burst emission is still unclear. Measurement of rapid variability at MeV energies in the stronger bursts provides evidence that either the sources are nearby (within the Galaxy) or the gamma-ray emission is relativistically beamed