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arXiv · 1103.4538

The first deep X-ray and optical observations of the closest isolated radio pulsar

A. Tiengo·R. Mignani·A. De Luca·P. Esposito·S. Mereghetti·A. Pellizzoni
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Abstract

With a distance of 170 pc, PSR J2144-3933 is the closest isolated radio pulsar currently known. It is also the slowest and least energetic radio pulsar; indeed, its radio emission is difficult to account for with standard pulsar models, since its position in the P-Pdot diagram is far beyond typical "death lines". Here we present the first deep X-ray and optical observations of PSR J2144-3933, performed in 2009 with XMM-Newton and the VLT, from which we can set one of the most robust upper limits on the surface temperature of a neutron star. We have also explored the possibility of measuring the neutron star mass from the gravitational lensing effect on a background optical source.

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A. Tiengo, R. Mignani, A. De Luca, P. Esposito, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni. 2011-03-23. The first deep X-ray and optical observations of the closest isolated radio pulsar. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3615132

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