The light curve of the companion to PSR B1957+20

We present a new analysis of the light curve for the secondary star in the eclipsing binary millisecond pulsar system PSR B1957+20. Combining previous data and new data points at minimum from the Hubble Space Telescope, we have 100% coverage in the R-band. We also have a number of new K_s-band data...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2007-05
Main Authors: Reynolds, Mark, Callanan, Paul, Fruchter, Andrew, Torres, Manuel, Beer, Martin, Gibbons, Rachel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Binary stars
Companion stars
Data points
Eclipsing binary stars
Hubble Space Telescope
Inclination
Light curve
Millisecond pulsars
Space telescopes
Temperature gradients
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Summary:We present a new analysis of the light curve for the secondary star in the eclipsing binary millisecond pulsar system PSR B1957+20. Combining previous data and new data points at minimum from the Hubble Space Telescope, we have 100% coverage in the R-band. We also have a number of new K_s-band data points, which we use to constrain the infrared magnitude of the system. We model this with the Eclipsing Light Curve code (ELC). From the modelling with the ELC code we obtain colour information about the secondary at minimum light in BVRI and K. For our best fit model we are able to constrain the system inclination to 65 +/- 2 degrees for pulsar masses ranging from 1.3 -- 1.9 M_sun. The pulsar mass is unconstrained. We also find that the secondary star is not filling its Roche lobe. The temperature of the un-irradiated side of the companion is in agreement with previous estimates and we find that the observed temperature gradient across the secondary star is physically sustainable.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.0705.2514