561 research outputs found
Constraining the optical emission from the double pulsar system J0737-3039
We present the first optical observations of the unique system J0737-3039
(composed of two pulsars, hereafter PSR-A and PSR-B). Ultra-deep optical
observations, performed with the High Resolution Camera of the Advanced Camera
for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope could not detect any optical
emission from the system down to m_F435W=27.0 and m_F606W=28.3. The estimated
optical flux limits are used to constrain the three-component (two thermal and
one non-thermal) model recently proposed to reproduce the XMM-Newton X-ray
spectrum. They suggest the presence of a break at low energies in the
non-thermal power law component of PSR-A and are compatible with the expected
black-body emission from the PSR-B surface. The corresponding efficiency of the
optical emission from PSR-A's magnetosphere would be comparable to that of
other Myr-old pulsars, thus suggesting that this parameter may not dramatically
evolve over a time-scale of a few Myr.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, ApJ accepte
Long Term Study of the Double Pulsar J0737-3039 with XMM-Newton: pulsar timing
The relativistic double neutron star binary PSR J0737-3039 shows clear
evidence of orbital phase-dependent wind-companion interaction, both in radio
and X-rays. In this paper we present the results of timing analysis of PSR
J0737-3039 performed during 2006 and 2011 XMM-Newton Large Programs that
collected ~20,000 X-ray counts from the system. We detected pulsations from PSR
J0737-3039A (PSR A) through the most accurate timing measurement obtained by
XMM-Newton so far, the spin period error being of 2x10^-13 s. PSR A's pulse
profile in X-rays is very stable despite significant relativistic spin
precession that occurred within the time span of observations. This yields a
constraint on the misalignment between the spin axis and the orbital momentum
axis Delta_A ~6.6^{+1.3}_{-5.4} deg, consistent with estimates based on radio
data. We confirmed pulsed emission from PSR J0737-3039B (PSR B) in X-rays even
after its disappearance in radio. The unusual phenomenology of PSR B's X-ray
emission includes orbital pulsed flux and profile variations as well as a loss
of pulsar phase coherence on time scales of years. We hypothesize that this is
due to the interaction of PSR A's wind with PSR B's magnetosphere and
orbital-dependent penetration of the wind plasma onto PSR B closed field lines.
Finally, the analysis of the full XMM-Newton dataset provided evidences of
orbital flux variability (~7%) for the first time, involving a bow-shock
scenario between PSR A's wind and PSR B's magnetosphere.Comment: Comments: 16 Pages, 6 Figures. Accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journal (Draft Version
Discovery of 59ms Pulsations from 1RXS J141256.0+792204 (Calvera)
We report on a multi-wavelength study of the compact object candidate 1RXS
J141256.0+792204 (Calvera). Calvera was observed in the X-rays with XMM/EPIC
twice for a total exposure time of ~50 ks. The source spectrum is thermal and
well reproduced by a two component model composed of either two hydrogen
atmosphere models, or two blackbodies (kT_1~ 55/150 eV, kT_2~ 80/250 eV,
respectively, as measured at infinity). Evidence was found for an absorption
feature at ~0.65 keV; no power-law high-energy tail is statistically required.
Using pn and MOS data we discovered pulsations in the X-ray emission at a
period P=59.2 ms. The detection is highly significant (> 11 sigma), and
unambiguously confirms the neutron star nature of Calvera. The pulse profile is
nearly sinusoidal, with a pulsed fraction of ~18%. We looked for the timing
signature of Calvera in the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) database and found
a significant (~5 sigma) pulsed signal at a period coincident with the X-ray
value. The gamma-ray timing analysis yielded a tight upper limit on the period
derivative, dP/dt < 5E-18 s/s (dE_rot/dt <1E33 erg/s, B<5E10 G for magneto-
dipolar spin-down). Radio searches at 1.36 GHz with the 100-m Effelsberg radio
telescope yielded negative results, with a deep upper limit on the pulsed flux
of 0.05 mJy. Diffuse, soft (< 1 keV) X-ray emission about 13' west of the
Calvera position is present both in our pointed observations and in archive
ROSAT all-sky survey images, but is unlikely associated with the X-ray pulsar.
Its spectrum is compatible with an old supernova remnant (SNR); no evidence for
diffuse emission in the radio and optical bands was found. The most likely
interpretations are that Calvera is either a central compact object escaped
from a SNR or a mildly recycled pulsar; in both cases the source would be the
first ever member of the class detected at gamma-ray energies.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Gamma-ray observations of Cygnus X-1 above 100 MeV in the hard and soft states
We present the results of multi-year gamma-ray observations by the AGILE
satellite of the black hole binary system Cygnus X-1. In a previous
investigation we focused on gamma-ray observations of Cygnus X-1 in the hard
state during the period mid-2007/2009. Here we present the results of the
gamma-ray monitoring of Cygnus X-1 during the period 2010/mid-2012 carried out
for which includes a remarkably prolonged `soft state' phase (June 2010 -- May
2011). Previous 1--10 MeV observations of Cyg X-1 in this state hinted at a
possible existence of a non-thermal particle component with substantial
modifications of the Comptonized emission from the inner accretion disk. Our
AGILE data, averaged over the mid-2010/mid-2011 soft state of Cygnus X-1,
provide a significant upper limit for gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV of
F_soft < 20 x 10^{-8} ph/cm^2/s, excluding the existence of prominent
non-thermal emission above 100 MeV during the soft state of Cygnus X-1. We
discuss theoretical implications of our findings in the context of high-energy
emission models of black hole accretion. We also discuss possible gamma-ray
flares detected by AGILE. In addition to a previously reported episode observed
by AGILE in October 2009 during the hard state, we report a weak but important
candidate for enhanced emission which occurred at the end of June 2010
(2010-06-30 10:00 - 2010-07-02 10:00 UT) exactly in coincidence with a
hard-to-soft state transition and before an anomalous radio flare. An appendix
summarizes all previous high-energy observations and possible detections of
Cygnus X-1 above 1 MeV.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Ap
SGR 0418+5729: a low-magnetic-field magnetar
Soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars are a small (but
growing) group of X-ray sources characterized by the emission of short bursts
and by a large variability in their persistent flux. They are believed to be
magnetars, i.e. neutron stars powered by extreme magnetic fields 1E14-1E15 G).
We found evidence for a magnetar with a low magnetic field, SGR 0418+5729,
recently detected after it emitted bursts similar to those of soft gamma-ray
repeaters. New X-ray observations show that its dipolar magnetic field cannot
be greater than 8E12 G, well in the range of ordinary radio pulsars, implying
that a high surface dipolar magnetic field is not necessarily required for
magnetar-like activity. The magnetar population may thus include objects with a
wider range of magnetic-field strengths, ages and evolutionary stages than
observed so far.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the Proceedings of the Pulsar
Conference 2010, Chia, Sardinia (Italy), 10-15 October 201
“In situ” Activation of Racemic RuII Complexes: Separation of trans and cis Species and Their Application in Asymmetric Reduction
Ruthenium(II) dichlorides with racemic atropos-biaryl-based diphosphanes and optically active 1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diamine (DPEN) as ligands have been synthesised. trans and cis isomers were formed due to the low basicity of the diphosphane ligands, in particular, with BITIANP and BIMIP. The trans and cis species were easily separated by filtration. In particular, when rac-BITIANP was used in combination with chiral DPEN, the asymmetric separation of optically pure complexes in cis and trans arrangements was realised and they were used as precatalysts in the asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones. Matching and mismatching combinations exhibited different performances
Discovery Of High-Energy Gamma-Ray Pulsations From Psr J2021+3651 With Agile
Discovered after the end of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory mission, the
radio pulsar PSR J2021+3651 was long considered a likely counterpart of the
high-energy gamma-ray source 2CG 075+00 = 3EG J2021+3716 = GeV J2020+3658, but
it could not be confirmed due to the lack of a contemporaneous radio pulsar
ephemeris to fold the sparse, archival gamma-ray photons. Here, we report the
discovery of gamma-ray pulsations from PSR J2021+3651 in the 100-1500 MeV range
using data from the AGILE satellite gathered over 8 months, folded on a densely
sampled, contemporaneous radio ephemeris obtained for this purpose at the Green
Bank Telescope. The gamma-ray pulse consists of two sharp peaks separated by
0.47+/-0.01 cycles. The single radio pulse leads the first gamma-ray peak by
0.165+/-0.010 cycles. These properties are similar to those of other gamma-ray
pulsars, and the phase relationship of the peaks can be interpreted in the
context of the outer-gap accelerator model for gamma-ray emission. Pulse-phase
resolved images show that there is only one dominant source, AGL J2020.5+3653 =
PSR J2021+3651 in the region previously containing confused sources 3EG
J2021+3716 and 3EG J2016+3657.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. to appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letter
- …