A pulsar in a binary with a compact object in the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Barr, Ewan D.; Dutta, Arunima; Freire, Paulo C. C.; Cadelano, Mario; Gautam, Tasha; Kramer, Michael; Pallanca, Cristina; Ransom, Scott M.; Ridolfi, Alessandro; Stappers, Benjamin W.; Tauris, Thomas M.; Venkatraman Krishnan, Vivek; Wex, Norbert; Bailes, Matthew; Behrend, Jan; Buchner, Sarah; Burgay, Marta; Chen, Weiwei; Champion, David J.; Chen, C. -H. Rosie; Corongiu, Alessandro; Geyer, Marisa; Men, Y. P.; Padmanabh, Prajwal Voraganti; Possenti, Andrea
• 署名单位: Max Planck Society; University of Bologna; Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF); National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO); Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF); University of Manchester; Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics; Aalborg University; Swinburne University of Technology; Swinburne University of Technology; University of Cape Town; Max Planck Society; Leibniz University Hannover
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-11850
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adg3005
• 发表日期: 2024-01-19
• 页码: 275-279
• 关键词: generation; STATES; qubit

摘要

Some compact objects observed in gravitational wave events have masses in the gap between known neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). The nature of these mass gap objects is unknown, as is the formation of their host binary systems. We report pulsar timing observations made with the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) of PSR J0514-4002E, an eccentric binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851. We found a total binary mass of 3.887 +/- 0.004 solar masses (M-circle dot), and multiwavelength observations show that the pulsar's binary companion is also a compact object. The companion's mass (2.09 to 2.71 M-circle dot, 95% confidence interval) is in the mass gap, indicating either a very massive NS or a low-mass BH. We propose that the companion formed in a merger between two earlier NSs.