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The Remarkable Binary Pulsar PSR B1259–63

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Simon Johnston*
Affiliation:
Research Centre for Theoretical Astrophysics, Univ. Sydney, Australia

Abstract

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PSR B1259–63 is a unique system consisting of a young radio pulsar in orbit about a 10 M Be star. Its orbital period is 3.4 yr and the eccentricity close to 0.9. Around periastron, the system is a radio and X-ray transient and shows changes in flux density, dispersion measure, rotation measure and scattering parameters on very short timescales. Timing observations show the equatorial plane of the Be star and the plane of the orbit are not aligned and the orbit precesses as a result. I briefly summarise 10 years of radio observations of PSR B1259–63 and the implications of these observations. Future work includes the determination of the orbital size through VLBI and observations at TeV energies.

Type
Part 7. The Surrounding of Pulsars
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2000

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