What will eROSITA reveal among X-ray faint isolated neutron stars?
Abstract
Since the discovery of the first radio pulsar fifty years ago, the population of neutron stars in our Galaxy has grown to over 2,600. A handful of these sources, exclusively seen in X-rays, show properties that are not observed in normal pulsars. Despite their scarcity, they are key to understanding aspects of the neutron star phenomenology and evolution. The forthcoming all-sky survey of eROSITA will unveil the X-ray faint end of the neutron star population at unprecedented sensitivity; therefore, it has the unique potential to constrain evolutionary models and advance our understanding of the sources that are especially silent in the radio and $\gamma$-ray regimes. In this contribution I discuss the expected role of eROSITA, and the challenges it will face, at probing the galactic neutron star population.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- November 2017
- DOI:
- 10.48550/arXiv.1711.05038
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1711.05038
- Bibcode:
- 2017arXiv171105038M
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "IAUS 337: Pulsar Astrophysics - The Next 50 Years" eds: P. Weltevrede, B.B.P. Perera, L. Levin Preston &