A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes

Ewan D. Barr; Arunima Dutta; Paulo C. C. Freire; Mario Cadelano; Tasha Gautam; Michael Kramer; Cristina Pallanca; Scott M. Ransom; Alessandro Ridolfi; Benjamin W. Stappers; Thomas M. Tauris; Vivek Venkatraman Krishnan; Norbert Wex; Matthew Bailes; Jan Behrend; Sarah Buchner; Marta Burgay; Weiwei Chen; David J. Champion; C.-H. Rosie Chen; Alessandro Corongiu; Marisa Geyer; Y. P. Men; Prajwal Voraganti Padmanabh; Andrea Possenti

doi:10.1126/science.adg3005

A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes

Ewan D. Barr, Arunima Dutta, Paulo C. C. Freire, Mario Cadelano, Tasha Gautam, Michael Kramer, Cristina Pallanca, Scott M. Ransom, Alessandro Ridolfi, Benjamin W. Stappers, Thomas M. Tauris, Vivek Venkatraman Krishnan, Norbert Wex, Matthew Bailes, Jan Behrend, Sarah Buchner, Marta Burgay, Weiwei Chen, David J. Champion, C.-H. Rosie ChenAlessandro Corongiu, Marisa Geyer, Y. P. Men, Prajwal Voraganti Padmanabh, Andrea Possenti

Astronomy and Astrophysics Theory Group

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Abstract

Some compact objects observed in gravitational wave events have masses in the gap between known neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). The nature of these mass gap objects is unknown, as is the formation of their host binary systems. We report pulsar timing observations made with the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) of PSR J0514−4002E, an eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851. We found a total binary mass of 3.887 ± 0.004 solar masses (M _☉), and multiwavelength observations show that the pulsar’s binary companion is also a compact object. The companion’s mass (2.09 to 2.71 M _☉, 95% confidence interval) is in the mass gap, indicating either a very massive NS or a low-mass BH. We propose that the companion formed in a merger between two earlier NSs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	275-279
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	383
Issue number	6680
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adg3005
Publication status	Published - 19 Jan 2024

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NGC_1851E_allAccepted author manuscript, 3.89 MBLicence: CC BY

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Barr, E. D., Dutta, A., Freire, P. C. C., Cadelano, M., Gautam, T., Kramer, M., Pallanca, C., Ransom, S. M., Ridolfi, A., Stappers, B. W., Tauris, T. M., Krishnan, V. V., Wex, N., Bailes, M., Behrend, J., Buchner, S., Burgay, M., Chen, W., Champion, D. J., ... Possenti, A. (2024). A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes. Science, 383(6680), 275-279. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adg3005

@article{19a39346ca6d47148e973679984eaa3e,

title = "A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes",

abstract = "Some compact objects observed in gravitational wave events have masses in the gap between known neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). The nature of these mass gap objects is unknown, as is the formation of their host binary systems. We report pulsar timing observations made with the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) of PSR J0514−4002E, an eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851. We found a total binary mass of 3.887 ± 0.004 solar masses (M ☉), and multiwavelength observations show that the pulsar{\textquoteright}s binary companion is also a compact object. The companion{\textquoteright}s mass (2.09 to 2.71 M ☉, 95% confidence interval) is in the mass gap, indicating either a very massive NS or a low-mass BH. We propose that the companion formed in a merger between two earlier NSs.",

author = "Barr, {Ewan D.} and Arunima Dutta and Freire, {Paulo C. C.} and Mario Cadelano and Tasha Gautam and Michael Kramer and Cristina Pallanca and Ransom, {Scott M.} and Alessandro Ridolfi and Stappers, {Benjamin W.} and Tauris, {Thomas M.} and Krishnan, {Vivek Venkatraman} and Norbert Wex and Matthew Bailes and Jan Behrend and Sarah Buchner and Marta Burgay and Weiwei Chen and Champion, {David J.} and Chen, {C.-H. Rosie} and Alessandro Corongiu and Marisa Geyer and Men, {Y. P.} and Padmanabh, {Prajwal Voraganti} and Andrea Possenti",

year = "2024",

month = jan,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1126/science.adg3005",

language = "English",

volume = "383",

pages = "275--279",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science (A A A S)",

number = "6680",

}

Barr, ED, Dutta, A, Freire, PCC, Cadelano, M, Gautam, T, Kramer, M, Pallanca, C, Ransom, SM, Ridolfi, A, Stappers, BW, Tauris, TM, Krishnan, VV, Wex, N, Bailes, M, Behrend, J, Buchner, S, Burgay, M, Chen, W, Champion, DJ, Chen, C-HR, Corongiu, A, Geyer, M, Men, YP, Padmanabh, PV & Possenti, A 2024, 'A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes', Science, vol. 383, no. 6680, pp. 275-279. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adg3005

TY - JOUR

T1 - A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes

AU - Barr, Ewan D.

AU - Dutta, Arunima

AU - Freire, Paulo C. C.

AU - Cadelano, Mario

AU - Gautam, Tasha

AU - Kramer, Michael

AU - Pallanca, Cristina

AU - Ransom, Scott M.

AU - Ridolfi, Alessandro

AU - Stappers, Benjamin W.

AU - Tauris, Thomas M.

AU - Krishnan, Vivek Venkatraman

AU - Wex, Norbert

AU - Bailes, Matthew

AU - Behrend, Jan

AU - Buchner, Sarah

AU - Burgay, Marta

AU - Chen, Weiwei

AU - Champion, David J.

AU - Chen, C.-H. Rosie

AU - Corongiu, Alessandro

AU - Geyer, Marisa

AU - Men, Y. P.

AU - Padmanabh, Prajwal Voraganti

AU - Possenti, Andrea

PY - 2024/1/19

Y1 - 2024/1/19

N2 - Some compact objects observed in gravitational wave events have masses in the gap between known neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). The nature of these mass gap objects is unknown, as is the formation of their host binary systems. We report pulsar timing observations made with the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) of PSR J0514−4002E, an eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851. We found a total binary mass of 3.887 ± 0.004 solar masses (M ☉), and multiwavelength observations show that the pulsar’s binary companion is also a compact object. The companion’s mass (2.09 to 2.71 M ☉, 95% confidence interval) is in the mass gap, indicating either a very massive NS or a low-mass BH. We propose that the companion formed in a merger between two earlier NSs.

AB - Some compact objects observed in gravitational wave events have masses in the gap between known neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). The nature of these mass gap objects is unknown, as is the formation of their host binary systems. We report pulsar timing observations made with the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) of PSR J0514−4002E, an eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851. We found a total binary mass of 3.887 ± 0.004 solar masses (M ☉), and multiwavelength observations show that the pulsar’s binary companion is also a compact object. The companion’s mass (2.09 to 2.71 M ☉, 95% confidence interval) is in the mass gap, indicating either a very massive NS or a low-mass BH. We propose that the companion formed in a merger between two earlier NSs.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182857859&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1126/science.adg3005

DO - 10.1126/science.adg3005

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 383

SP - 275

EP - 279

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6680

ER -

A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes

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