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An Eccentric Binary Millisecond Pulsar in the Galactic PlaneBinary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar with a rotational period of 2.15 milliseconds in a highly eccentric (e = 0.44) 95-day orbit around a solar mass (M.) companion. Infrared observations identify a possible main-sequence companion star. Conventional binary stellar evolution models predict neither large orbital eccentricities nor main-sequence companions around millisecond pulsars. Alternative formation scenarios involve recycling a neutron star in a globular cluster, then ejecting it into the Galactic disk, or membership in a hierarchical triple system. A relativistic analysis of timing observations of the pulsar finds its mass to be 1.74 +/- 0.04 Solar Mass, an unusually high value.
Document ID
20080039127
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Champion, David J.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Ransom, Scott M.
(National Radio Astronomy Observatory Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Lazarus, Patrick
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Camilo, Fernando
(Columbia Univ. New York, NY, United States)
Bassa, Cess
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Kaspi, Victoria M.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Nice, David J.
(Bryn Mawr Coll. PA, United States)
Freire, Paulo C. C.
(National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center Arecibo, Puerto Rico)
Stairs, Ingrid H.
(British Columbia Univ. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
vanLeeuwen, Joeri
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Stappers, Ben W.
(Manchester Univ. MacClesfield, United Kingdom)
Cordes, James M.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Hessels, Jason W. T.
(Astronomical Inst. Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Lorimer, Duncan R.
(West Virginia Univ. Morgantown, WV, United States)
Arzoumanian, Zaven
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Backer, Don C.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Bhat, N. D. Ramesh
(Swinburne Univ. of Technology Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia)
Chatterjee, Shami
(Sydney Univ. Australia)
Cognard, Ismael
(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Orleans, France)
Deneva, Julia S.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Faucher-Giguere, Claude-Andre
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Gaensler, Bryan M.
(Sydney Univ. Australia)
Han, JinLin
(Academia Sinica Beijing, China)
Jenet, Fredrick A.
(Texas Univ. Brownsville, TX, United States)
Kasian, Laura
(British Columbia Univ. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
June 6, 2008
Publication Information
Publication: Science Magazine
Subject Category
Astronomy
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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