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Pulsed Gamma Rays from the Original Millisecond and Black Widow Pulsars: A Case for Caustic Radio Emission?We report the detection of pulsed gamma-ray emission from the fast millisecond pulsars (MSPs) B1937+21 (also known as J1939+2134) and B1957+20 (J1959+2048) using 18 months of survey data recorded by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and timing solutions based on radio observations conducted at the Westerbork and Nancay radio telescopes. In addition, we analyzed archival RXTE and XMM-Newton X-ray data for the two MSPs, confirming the X-ray emission properties of PSR B1937+21 and finding evidence (approx. 4(sigma)) for pulsed emission from PSR B1957+20 for the first time. In both cases the gamma-ray emission profile is characterized by two peaks separated by half a rotation and are in close alignment with components observed in radio and X-rays. These two pulsars join PSRs J0034..0534 and J2214+3000 to form an emerging class of gamma-ray MSPs with phase-aligned peaks in different energy bands. The modeling of the radio and gamma-ray emission pro les suggests co-located emission regions in the outer magnetosphere.
Document ID
20120008625
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Guillemot, L.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Radioastronomie Bonn, Germany)
Johnson, T. J.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Venter, C.
(North-West University Potchefstroom, South Africa)
Kerr, M.
(Kavli Inst. for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology Stanford, CA, United States)
Pancrazi, B.
(Toulouse Univ. France)
Livingstone, M.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Janssen, G. H.
(Manchester Univ. United Kingdom)
Jaroenjittichai, P.
(Manchester Univ. United Kingdom)
Kramer, M.
(Manchester Univ. United Kingdom)
Cognard, I.
(Observatoire de Paris Nancay, France)
Stappers, B. W.
(Manchester Univ. United Kingdom)
Harding, A. K.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Camilo, F.
(Columbia Univ. New York, NY, United States)
Espinoza, C. M.
(Manchester Univ. United Kingdom)
Freire, P. C. C.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Radioastronomie Bonn, Germany)
Gargano, F.
(Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Bari, Italy)
Grove, J. E.
(Naval Research Lab. Washington, DC, United States)
Johnston, S.
(Australia Telescope National Facility Epping, Australia)
Michelson, P. F.
(Kavli Inst. for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology Stanford, CA, United States)
Noutsos, A.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Radioastronomie Bonn, Germany)
Parent, D.
(George Mason Univ. Fairfax, VA, United States)
Ransom, S. M.
(National Radio Astronomy Observatory Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Ray, P. S.
(Naval Research Lab. Washington, DC, United States)
Shannon, R.
(Australia Telescope National Facility Epping, Australia)
Smith, D. A.
(Bordeaux 1 Univ. Gradignan, France)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
November 7, 2011
Subject Category
Astronomy
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.5934.2012
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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