PSR J0952–0607
Massive millisecond pulsar in the Milky Way / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PSR J0952–0607 is a massive millisecond pulsar in a binary system, located between 3,200–5,700 light-years (970–1,740 pc) from Earth in the constellation Sextans.[5] It holds the record for being the most massive neutron star known as of 2022[update], with a mass 2.35±0.17 times that of the Sun—potentially close to the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff mass upper limit for neutron stars.[4][6] The pulsar rotates at a frequency of 707 Hz (1.41 ms period), making it the second-fastest-spinning pulsar known, and the fastest-spinning pulsar known within the Milky Way.[7][5]
Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 | |
---|---|
Constellation | Sextans |
Right ascension | 09h 52m 08.319s[1] |
Declination | −06° 07′ 23.49″[1] |
Characteristics | |
Spectral type | Pulsar |
Apparent magnitude (i) | 22.0–24.4[2] |
Astrometry | |
Distance | 970+1160 −530 pc[3] or 1740+1570 −820 pc[3] or 6260+360 −400 (optical) pc[4] |
Details | |
PSR J0952–0607 A | |
Mass | 2.35±0.17[4] M☉ |
Rotation | 1.41379836 ms[3] |
Age | 4.9[3] Gyr |
PSR J0952–0607 B | |
Mass | 0.032±0.002[4] M☉ |
Luminosity | 9.96+1.20 −1.12[lower-alpha 1] L☉ |
Temperature | 3085+85 −80[4] K |
Metallicity [Fe/H] | –0.5[2] dex |
Orbit[3] | |
Primary | PSR J0952–0607 A |
Companion | PSR J0952–0607 B |
Period (P) | 0.267461035 d (6.41906484 h) |
Semi-major axis (a) | 1600000 km[lower-alpha 2] |
Eccentricity (e) | <0.004 |
Inclination (i) | 59.8+2.0 −1.9[4]° |
Semi-amplitude (K2) (secondary) | 376.1±5.1[4] km/s |
Other designations | |
PSR J0952–0607, 4FGL J0952.1–0607 | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
PSR J0952–0607 was discovered by the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope during a search for pulsars in 2016.[5] It is classified as a black widow pulsar, a type of pulsar harboring a closely-orbiting substellar-mass companion that is being ablated by the pulsar's intense high-energy solar winds and gamma-ray emissions.[4][8] The pulsar's high-energy emissions have been detected in gamma-ray and X-ray wavelengths.[9][3][10]