* Astronomy

Title: PSR J1930-1852: a pulsar in the widest known orbit around another neutron star
Author: J. K. Swiggum, R. Rosen, M. A. McLaughlin, D. R. Lorimer, S. Heatherly, R. Lynch, S. Scoles, T. Hockett, E. Filik, J. A. Marlowe, B. N. Barlow, M. Weaver, M. Hilzendeger, S. Ernst, R. Crowley, E. Stone, B. Miller, R. Nunez, G. Trevino, M. Doehler, A. Cramer, D. Yencsik, J. Thorley, R. Andrews, A. Laws, K. Wenger, L. Teter, T. Snyder, A. Dittmann, S. Gray, M. Carter, C. McGough, S. Dydiw, C. Pruett, J. Fink, A. Vanderhout

In the summer of 2012, during a Pulsar Search Collaboratory workshop, two high-school students discovered J1930-1852, a pulsar in a double neutron star (DNS) system. Most DNS systems are characterised by short orbital periods, rapid spin periods and eccentric orbits. However, J1930-1852 has the longest spin period (P_spin~185 ms) and orbital period (P_b~45 days) yet measured among known, recycled pulsars in DNS systems, implying a shorter than average and/or inefficient recycling period before its companion went supernova. We measure the relativistic advance of periastron for J1930-1852, w=0.00078(4) deg/yr, which implies a total mass (M_tot=2.59(4) solar masses) consistent with other DNS systems. The 2sigma constraints on M_tot place limits on the pulsar and companion masses (mp<1.32 solar massesand m_c>1.30 solar masses respectively). J1930-1852's spin and orbital parameters challenge current DNS population models and make J1930-1852 an important system for further investigation.

Read more (635kb, PDF)