Record Details

P976 - Wide-band characterisation of the radio eclipses of black widows and redbacks

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Title P976 - Wide-band characterisation of the radio eclipses of black widows and redbacks
 
Subject Astronomical and Space Sciences not elsewhere classified
 
Description Millisecond pulsars are remnants of supernova explosions that, despite being only 20 km in diameter, are more massive than the Sun. Their name arises from the fact that they spin so fast as to complete a rotation once every few milliseconds. Beams of radio waves are emitted from their magnetic poles, which we can detect on Earth as a pulse as the beam passes over us every rotation of the pulsar. Here we are observing a millisecond pulsar in a binary system with a more light-weight companion star. The two bodies orbit so close to one another that the companion star is evaporated by the wind from the pulsar, causing a cloud of material to surround the companion star that can eclipse the radio waves that we usually detect. These eclipses happen once every orbit, and we aim to determine the properties of the evaporated material, and the mechanisms through which it eclipses the pulsar beams.
 
Publisher CSIRO
 
Date 2022-01-20
 
Identifier csiro:P976
 
Language eng