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Companion star of a binary millisecond pulsar

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Abstract

Binary pulsars offer important clues about the evolution of neutron stars. We have searched for and identified the companion star of the recently discovered1 binary millisecond pulsar PSR1855 + 09. The optical counterpart is compatible with a 0.3M⊙ white dwarf with a surface temperature of ∼5,900 K. This is in accord with currently accepted ideas on the genesis of such a fast binary pulsar2. The low temperature of the white dwarf implies that the system is >109yr old. Such an old pulsar is not easily accounted for by the conventional theory, in which the pulsar ceases to be active after its magnetic field decays, a process believed to take ∼107 yr.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08544, USA

    G. A. Wright & E. D. Loh

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  1. G. A. Wright
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  2. E. D. Loh
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Wright, G., Loh, E. Companion star of a binary millisecond pulsar. Nature 324, 127–128 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/324127a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/324127a0

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