Vela Pulsar

Vela Pulsar

The Vela Pulsar and its surrounding pulsar wind nebula, Chandra X-Ray image
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Vela
Right ascension 08h 35m 20.65525s
Declination -45° 10′ 35.1545″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 23.6
Astrometry
Distance 959 (-163,+248) ly
(294 (-50,+76)[2] pc)
Other designations
PSR B0833-45, 4U 0833-45, 2CG 263-02, 2E 0833.6-4500, 3EG J0834-4511, H 0833-450, INTEGRAL1 5, SNR G263.6-02.8

The Vela Pulsar (PSR B0833-45 or PSR J0835-4510) is a radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-emitting pulsar associated with Vela Supernova Remnant, in the constellation of Vela.

Contents

Supernova origins

The association of the Vela pulsar with the Vela Supernova Remnant, made by astronomers at the University of Sydney in 1968,[1] was direct observational proof that supernovae form neutron stars.

Characteristics

It has a period of 89 ms (the shortest known at the time of its discovery) and the remnant from the supernova explosion is estimated to be travelling at 1,200 km/s.[3] It has the third brightest optical component of all known pulsars (V = 23.6 mag)[4] which pulses twice for every single radio pulse. The Vela pulsar is the brightest persistent object in the high energy gamma ray sky.

Vela X confusion

Note that this object has often been called Vela X, for reasons that appear historically unclear. Because of the possible confusion with Vela X-1 (= 4U 0900-40), a very different kind of object that happens to lie nearby, referring to it as either "Vel X" or "Vela X" seems inadvisable.

A planetary companion?

In early 1970, Curtis proposed the presence of a planetary companion to explain certain variations observed in the pulsar's timing.[5] The putative object would have a mass of about 0.01 Solar masses (i.e., 10 times the mass of Jupiter) and orbit the parent star at a distance of 0.3 Astronomical Units. Given the age of the article in question, it's likely this claim will turn out to be spurious; at any rate, it is as yet uncomfirmed.

The Vela Pulsar system
Companion
(in order from star)		 Mass Semimajor axis
(AU)		 Orbital period
(days)		 Eccentricity
b (unconfirmed) ≥10 MJ 0.3  ?  ?

See also

References

  1. ^ SIMBAD
  2. ^ Caraveo, P.A. et al., Astrophys. J., 561, 930-937 (2001)
  3. ^ Lyne, Andrew G.; Francis Graham-Smith (1998). Pulsar Astronomy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-59413-8. 
  4. ^ Mignani et al.; Zharikov, S.; Caraveo, P. A. (2007-10-01). "The optical spectrum of the Vela Pulsar". Astronomy & Astrophysics 473 (3): 891. Bibcode 2007A&A...473..891M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077774. 
  5. ^ Curtis (1970). "Pulsar Planetary Systems". The Astrophysical Journal Letters 159: 25–28. arXiv:astro-ph/0611729. Bibcode 2007MNRAS.381L...1L. doi:10.1086/180471. 

External links

Coordinates: 08h 35m 20.65525s, −45° 10′ 35.1545″