X-ray mapping of the stellar wind in the binary PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213
Abstract
PSR J2032+4127 is a young and rapidly rotating pulsar on a highly eccentric orbit around the high-mass Be star MT91 213. X-ray monitoring of the binary system over an ∼4000 d period with Swift has revealed an increase of the X-ray luminosity which we attribute to the synchrotron emission of the shocked pulsar wind. We use Swift X-ray observations to infer a clumpy stellar wind with r-2 density profile and constrain the Lorentz factor of the pulsar wind to 105 < γw < 106. We investigate the effects of an axisymmetric stellar wind with polar gradient on the X-ray emission. Comparison of the X-ray light curve hundreds of days before and after the periastron can be used to explore the polar structure of the wind.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- February 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnrasl/slx185
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1710.05042
- Bibcode:
- 2018MNRAS.474L..22P
- Keywords:
-
- radiation mechanisms: non-thermal;
- stars: massive;
- pulsars: individual: PSR J2032+4127;
- X-rays: binaries;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, submitted to MNRAS Letters