Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Reynolds, M. T.
• Callanan, P. J.
• Fruchter, A. S.
• Torres, M. A. P.
• Beer, M. E.
• Gibbons, R. A.

Titel

The light curve of the companion to PSR B1957+20

Ist Teil von

• Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2007-08, Vol.379 (3), p.1117-1122

Ort / Verlag

Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2007

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Wiley Online Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We present a new analysis of the light curve for the secondary star in the eclipsing binary millisecond pulsar system PSR B1957+20. Combining previous data and new data points at minimum from the Hubble Space Telescope, we have 100 per cent coverage in the R-band. We also have a number of new Ks-band data points, which we use to constrain the infrared magnitude of the system. We model this with the eclipsing light-curve (ELC) code. From the modelling with the ELC code we obtain colour information about the secondary at minimum light in BVRI and K. For our best-fitting model we are able to constrain the system inclination to 65°± 2° for pulsar masses ranging from 1.3 to 1.9  M⊙. The pulsar mass is unconstrained. We also find that the secondary star is not filling its Roche lobe. The temperature of the unirradiated side of the companion is in agreement with previous estimates and we find that the observed temperature gradient across the secondary star is physically sustainable.