A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes

verfasst von
Ewan D. Barr, Arunima Dutta, Paulo C.C. Freire, Mario Cadelano, Tasha Gautam, Michael Kramer, Cristina Pallanca, Scott M. Ransom, Alessandro Ridolfi, Benjamin W. Stappers, Thomas M. Tauris, Vivek Venkatraman Krishnan, Norbert Wex, Matthew Bailes, Jan Behrend, Sarah Buchner, Marta Burgay, Weiwei Chen, David J. Champion, C. H.Rosie Chen, Alessandro Corongiu, Marisa Geyer, Y. P. Men, Prajwal Voraganti Padmanabh, Andrea Possenti
Abstract

Some compact objects observed in gravitational wave events have masses in the gap between known neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). The nature of these mass gap objects is unknown, as is the formation of their host binary systems. We report pulsar timing observations made with the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) of PSR J0514−4002E, an eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851. We found a total binary mass of 3.887 ± 0.004 solar masses (M), and multiwavelength observations show that the pulsar’s binary companion is also a compact object. The companion’s mass (2.09 to 2.71 M, 95% confidence interval) is in the mass gap, indicating either a very massive NS or a low-mass BH. We propose that the companion formed in a merger between two earlier NSs.

Organisationseinheit(en)
Institut für Gravitationsphysik
Externe Organisation(en)
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
Università di Bologna
Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IAPS-INAF)
National Radio Astronomy Observatory Socorro
Istituto Nazionale Di Astrofisica, Rome
University of Manchester
Aalborg University
Swinburne University of Technology
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)
University of Cape Town
Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut)
Typ
Artikel
Journal
SCIENCE
Band
383
Seiten
275-279
Anzahl der Seiten
5
ISSN
0036-8075
Publikationsdatum
19.01.2024
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Allgemein
Elektronische Version(en)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2401.09872 (Zugang: Offen)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adg3005 (Zugang: Geschlossen)