Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary

Millisecond pulsars are thought to be neutron stars that have been spun-up by accretion of matter from a binary companion. Although most are in binary systems, some 30% are solitary, and their origin is therefore mysterious. PSR J1719-1438, a 5.7-millisecond pulsar, was detected in a recent survey w...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bailes, M., Bates, S., Bhalerao, V., Bhat, Ramesh, Burgay, M., Burke-Spolaor, S., D'Amico, N., Johnston, S., Keith, M., Kramer, M., Kulkarni, S., Levin, L., Lyne, A., Milia, S., Possenti, A., Spitler, L., Stappers, B., Van Straten, W.
Format: Journal Article
Published: The American Association for the Advancement of Science 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/55606
_version_ 1848759663303065600
author Bailes, M.
Bates, S.
Bhalerao, V.
Bhat, Ramesh
Burgay, M.
Burke-Spolaor, S.
D'Amico, N.
Johnston, S.
Keith, M.
Kramer, M.
Kulkarni, S.
Levin, L.
Lyne, A.
Milia, S.
Possenti, A.
Spitler, L.
Stappers, B.
Van Straten, W.
author_facet Bailes, M.
Bates, S.
Bhalerao, V.
Bhat, Ramesh
Burgay, M.
Burke-Spolaor, S.
D'Amico, N.
Johnston, S.
Keith, M.
Kramer, M.
Kulkarni, S.
Levin, L.
Lyne, A.
Milia, S.
Possenti, A.
Spitler, L.
Stappers, B.
Van Straten, W.
author_sort Bailes, M.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Millisecond pulsars are thought to be neutron stars that have been spun-up by accretion of matter from a binary companion. Although most are in binary systems, some 30% are solitary, and their origin is therefore mysterious. PSR J1719-1438, a 5.7-millisecond pulsar, was detected in a recent survey with the Parkes 64-meter radio telescope. We show that this pulsar is in a binary system with an orbital period of 2.2 hours. The mass of its companion is near that of Jupiter, but its minimum density of 23 grams per cubic centimeter suggests that it may be an ultralow-mass carbon white dwarf. This system may thus have once been an ultracompact low-mass x-ray binary, where the companion narrowly avoided complete destruction.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:03:28Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-55606
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:03:28Z
publishDate 2011
publisher The American Association for the Advancement of Science
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-556062018-03-29T09:09:36Z Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary Bailes, M. Bates, S. Bhalerao, V. Bhat, Ramesh Burgay, M. Burke-Spolaor, S. D'Amico, N. Johnston, S. Keith, M. Kramer, M. Kulkarni, S. Levin, L. Lyne, A. Milia, S. Possenti, A. Spitler, L. Stappers, B. Van Straten, W. Millisecond pulsars are thought to be neutron stars that have been spun-up by accretion of matter from a binary companion. Although most are in binary systems, some 30% are solitary, and their origin is therefore mysterious. PSR J1719-1438, a 5.7-millisecond pulsar, was detected in a recent survey with the Parkes 64-meter radio telescope. We show that this pulsar is in a binary system with an orbital period of 2.2 hours. The mass of its companion is near that of Jupiter, but its minimum density of 23 grams per cubic centimeter suggests that it may be an ultralow-mass carbon white dwarf. This system may thus have once been an ultracompact low-mass x-ray binary, where the companion narrowly avoided complete destruction. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/55606 10.1126/science.1208890 The American Association for the Advancement of Science restricted
spellingShingle Bailes, M.
Bates, S.
Bhalerao, V.
Bhat, Ramesh
Burgay, M.
Burke-Spolaor, S.
D'Amico, N.
Johnston, S.
Keith, M.
Kramer, M.
Kulkarni, S.
Levin, L.
Lyne, A.
Milia, S.
Possenti, A.
Spitler, L.
Stappers, B.
Van Straten, W.
Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary
title Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary
title_full Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary
title_fullStr Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary
title_full_unstemmed Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary
title_short Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary
title_sort transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/55606