PSR B0943+10
|
|
|
| Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 |
|
|---|---|
| Constellation | Leo |
| Right ascension | 19h46m7.4s[1] |
| Declination | +09° 51' 54" [1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | ? |
| Astrometry | |
| Distance | 0.63 ± 0.10 k[1] pc |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | neutron star |
| U−B color index | ? |
| B−V color index | ? |
| Variable type | Pulsar |
| Details | |
| Mass | ~ 0.02[2] M☉ |
| Radius | ~ 2.6km[2] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 1.31×10-5[1] L☉ |
| Temperature | 3.1x105[1] K |
| Metallicity | ? |
| Rotation | 1.1 s |
| Age | 5 × 106 years |
| Other designations | |
PSR B0943+10 is a pulsar 3,000 light years from Earth[3] in the direction of the constellation of Leo.[4]
Description
The pulsar is estimated to be 5 million years old, which is relatively old for a pulsar.[5] It has a rotational period of 1.1 seconds and emits both radio waves and X-rays.[3] Ongoing research at the University of Vermont discovered that the pulsar was found to flip on a roughly a few hours timescale between a radio bright mode with highly organized pulsations and a quieter mode with rather chaotic temporal structure.[6][7]
Moreover, the observations of the pulsar performed simultaneously with the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory and ground-based radio telescopes revealed that it exhibits variations in its X-ray emission that mimic in reverse the changes seen in radio waves—the pulsar has a weaker non-pulsing X-ray luminosity during the radio bright mode and is actually brighter during the radio quite mode emitting distinct X-ray pulses.[7] Such changes can only be explained if the pulsar's magnetosphere (which may extend up to 52,000 km from the surface) quickly switches between two extreme states.[5] The change happens on a few seconds timescale, far faster than most pulsars. Despite being one of the first pulsars discovered the mechanism for its unusual behavior is unknown.[6]
A research group from Peking University in Beijing, China published a paper suggesting that the pulsar may actually be a low-mass quark star.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
