The optical light curve of the LMC pulsar B0540-69 in 2009

Abstract

This paper reports a detailed analysis of the optical light curve of PSR B0540-69, the second brightest pulsar in the visible band, obtained in 2009 (Jan. 18 and 20, and Dec. 14, 15, 16, 18) with the very high speed photon counting photometer Iqueye mounted at the ESO 3.6-m NTT in La Silla (Chile). The optical light curve derived by Iqueye shows a double structure in the main peak, with a raising edge steeper than the trailing edge. The double peak can be fitted by two Gaussians with the same height and FWHM of 13.3 and 15.5 ms respectively. Our new values of spin frequencies allow to extend by 3.5 years the time interval over which a reliable estimate of frequency first and second derivatives can be performed. A discussion of implications on the braking index and age of the pulsar is carried out. A value of n = 2.087 +/- 0.007 for the overall braking index from 1987 to 2009 is derived. The braking index corrected age is confirmed around 1700 years.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (4)

• TEMPO2, a new pulsar timing package. I: Overview
• New Phase-coherent Measurements of Pulsar Braking Indices
• X-ray observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud pulsar PSR B0540-69 and its PWN
• HST multi-epoch imaging of the PSR B0540-69 system unveils a highly dynamic synchrotron nebula

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• The first ultraviolet detection of the Large Magellanic Cloud pulsar PSR B0540-69 and its multi-wavelength properties
• X-ray/GeV emissions from Crab-like pulsars in LMC
• On the new braking index of PSR B0540-69: further support for magnetic field growth of neutron stars following submergence by fallback accretion
• New technique for determining a pulsar period: Waterfall principal component analysis
• Relating the Kick Velocities of Young Pulsars with Magnetic Field Growth Timescales Inferred From Braking Indices
• Optical pulsations from isolated neutron stars
• Neutron Star Astronomy with the HST
• A Temporal Map in Geostationary Orbit: The Cover Etching on the EchoStar XVI Artifact