High Energy Radiation from Spider Pulsars

Abstract

The population of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) has been expanded considerably in the last decade. Not only is their number increasing, but also various classes of them have been revealed. Among different classes of MSPs, the behaviour of black widows and redbacks are particularly interesting. These systems consist of an MSP and a low-mass companion star in compact binaries with an orbital period of less than a day. In this article, we give an overview of the high energy nature of these two classes of MSPs. Updated catalogues of black widows and redbacks are presented and their X ray/$\gamma$-ray properties are reviewed. Besides the overview, using the most updated eight-year Fermi Large Area Telescope point source catalog, we have compared the $\gamma$-ray properties of these two MSP classes. The results suggest that the X-rays and $\gamma$-rays observed from these MSPs originate from different mechanisms. Lastly, we will also mention the future prospects of studying these spider pulsars with the novel methodologies as well as upcoming observing facilities.

30 pages, 15 figures, 3 tables, Invited review article published by Galaxies

References in corpus (21)

• A Radio Pulsar/X-ray Binary Link
• The Parkes multibeam pulsar survey: VI. Discovery and timing of 142 pulsars and a Galactic population analysis
• Fermi Large Area Telescope Bright Gamma-ray Source List
• Eight New Millisecond Pulsars in NGC 6440 and NGC 6441
• Discovery of PSR J1227-4853: A transition from a low-mass X-ray binary to a redback millisecond pulsar
• A 1.4-GHz Arecibo Survey for Pulsars in Globular Clusters
• Discovery of 28 pulsars using new techniques for sorting pulsar candidates
• Radio Searches of Fermi LAT Sources and Blind Search Pulsars: The Fermi Pulsar Search Consortium
• Identification of the High-Energy Gamma-Ray Source 3FGL J1544.6-1125 as a Transitional Millisecond Pulsar Binary in an Accreting State
• Unveiling the redback nature of the low-mass X-ray binary XSSJ1227.0-4859 through optical observations
• 21-year timing of the black-widow pulsar J2051-0827
• Evidence for gamma-ray emission from the low-mass X-ray binary system FIRST J102347.6+003841
• GBT Discovery of Two Binary Millisecond Pulsars in the Globular Cluster M30
• 2FGL J1653.6-0159: A New Low in Evaporating Pulsar Binary Periods
• Pulsar Wind Nebulae and the Non-thermal X-Ray Emission of Millisecond Pulsars
• The High Time Resolution Universe Survey - XI. Discovery of five recycled pulsars and the optical detectability of survey white dwarf companions
• A puzzling millisecond pulsar companion in NGC 6266
• A millisecond pulsar candidate in a 21-hr orbit: 3FGL J0212.1+5320
• Exploring the intrabinary shock from the redback millisecond pulsar PSR J2129-0429
• Discovery of an ultracompact gamma-ray millisecond pulsar binary candidate
• X-ray Counterparts of Millisecond Pulsars in Globular Clusters