Issue |
A&A
Volume 463, Number 2, February IV 2007
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | L5 - L8 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20066568 | |
Published online | 11 January 2007 |
Letter to the Editor
XMM-Newton observations of PSR B1957+20
Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, 85748 Garching, Germany e-mail: rhuang@mpe.mpg.de
Received:
13
October
2006
Accepted:
9
January
2007
We report on XMM-Newton observations of the “Black Widow pulsar”, PSR B1957+20.
The pulsar's X-ray emission is non-thermal and best modeled with a single powerlaw spectrum
of photon index . No coherent X-ray pulsations at the pulsar's
spin-period could be detected, though a strong binary-phase dependence of the X-ray flux
is observed for the first time. The data suggest that the majority of the pulsar's X-radiation
is emitted from a small part of the binary orbit only. We identified this part as being near
to where the radio eclipse takes place. This could mean that the X-rays from PSR B1957+20 are
mostly due to intra-shock emission which is strongest when the pulsar wind interacts with the
ablated material from the companion star.
Key words: pulsars: individual: PSR B1957+20 / stars: neutron / X-rays: stars / binaries: eclipsing
© ESO, 2007
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