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

authored by
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.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Gravitation Physics
External Organisation(s)
Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
University of 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 Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
Type
Article
Journal
SCIENCE
Volume
383
Pages
275-279
No. of pages
5
ISSN
0036-8075
Publication date
19.01.2024
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
General
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2401.09872 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adg3005 (Access: Closed)