NuSTAR and Parkes observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar binary XSS J12270-4859 in the rotation-powered state

Abstract

We report on the first NuSTAR observation of the transitional millisecond pulsar binary XSS J12270-4859 during its current rotation-powered state, complemented with a 2.5yr-long radio monitoring at Parkes telescope and archival XMM-Newton and Swift X-ray and optical data. The radio pulsar is mainly detected at 1.4GHz displaying eclipses over about 40% of the 6.91h orbital cycle. We derive a new updated radio ephemeris to study the 3-79keV light curve that displays a significant orbital modulation with fractional amplitude of 28+/-3%, a structured maximum centred at the inferior conjunction of the pulsar and no cycle-to-cycle or low-high-flaring mode variabilities. The average X-ray spectrum, extending up to about 70keV without a spectral break, is well described by a simple power-law with photon index Gamma = 1.17+/-0.08 giving a 3-79keV luminosity of 7.6(-0.8;+3.8)x10**32 erg/s, for a distance of 1.37(-0.15;+0.69)kpc. Energy resolved orbital light curves reveal that the modulation is not energy dependent from 3keV to 25keV and is undetected with an upper limit of about 10% above 25keV. Comparison with previous X-ray XMM-Newton observations in common energy ranges confirms that the modulation amplitudes vary on timescales of a few months, indicative of a non-stationary contribution of the intrabinary shock formed by the colliding winds of the pulsar and the companion. A more detailed inspection of energy resolved modulations than previously reported gives hints of a mild softening at superior conjunction of the pulsar below 3keV, likely due to the contribution of the thermal emission from the neutron star. The intrabinary shock emission, if extending into the MeV range, would be energetically capable alone to irradiate the donor star.

arXiv comment15 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables - Accepted for publication in MNRAS Main Journal

References in corpus (70)

• Gaia Data Release 2. Summary of the contents and survey properties
• The Swift X-ray Telescope
• The European Photon Imaging Camera on XMM-Newton: The MOS Cameras
• The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Mission
• The Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope
• Gaia Data Release 2: The astrometric solution
• Estimating distances from parallaxes IV: Distances to 1.33 billion stars in Gaia Data Release 2
• Methods and results of an automatic analysis of a complete sample of Swift-XRT observations of GRBs
• TEMPO2, a new pulsar timing package. I: Overview
• A New Electron Density Model for Estimation of Pulsar and FRB Distances
• A Radio Pulsar/X-ray Binary Link
• The Parkes multibeam pulsar survey: VI. Discovery and timing of 142 pulsars and a Galactic population analysis
• NE2001.I. A New Model for the Galactic Distribution of Free Electrons and its Fluctuations
• Swings between rotation and accretion power in a millisecond binary pulsar
• Particle Acceleration in Relativistic Magnetized Collisionless Electron-Ion Shocks
• The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey I: System configuration and initial discoveries
• Acceleration of Particles at the Termination Shock of a Relativistic Striped Wind
• A state change in the low-mass X-ray binary XSS J12270-4859
• A state change in the missing link binary pulsar system PSR J1023+0038
• Relativistic Shocks: Particle Acceleration and Magnetization
• Accretion Discs Trapped Near Corotation
• A New Accretion Disk Around the Missing Link Binary System PSR J1023+0038
• Discovery of PSR J1227-4853: A transition from a low-mass X-ray binary to a redback millisecond pulsar
• Intra-Binary Shock Heating of Black Widow Companions
• Optical spectroscopy and demographics of redback millisecond pulsar binaries
• X-ray follow-ups of XSSJ12270-4859: a low-mass X-ray binary with gamma ray FERMI-LAT association
• X-ray Variability and Evidence for Pulsations from the Unique Radio Pulsar/X-ray Binary Transition Object FIRST J102347.6+003841
• Where May Ultra-Fast Rotating Neutron Stars Be Hidden?
• Is FIRST J102347.6+003841 Really a Cataclysmic Binary?
• Multi-wavelength emissions from the millisecond pulsar binary PSR J1023+0038 during an accretion active state
• X-ray coherent pulsations during a sub-luminous accretion disk state of the transitional millisecond pulsar XSS J12270-4859
• The intriguing nature of the high energy gamma ray source XSSJ12270-4859
• X-ray states of redback millisecond pulsars
• Optical pulsations from a transitional millisecond pulsar
• Constraints on the Emission Geometries and Spin Evolution of Gamma-ray Millisecond Pulsars
• Relativistic Doppler-boosted emission in gamma-ray binaries
• X-ray Observations of XSS J12270-4859 in a New Low State: A Transformation to a Disk-Free Rotation-Powered Pulsar Binary
• Modelling the high-energy emission from gamma-ray binaries using numerical relativistic hydrodynamics
• Constraining Relativistic Bow Shock Properties in Rotation-Powered Millisecond Pulsar Binaries
• NuSTAR Observations of the State Transition of Millisecond Pulsar Binary PSR J1023+0038
• Simultaneous Chandra and VLA Observations of the Transitional Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1023+0038: Anti-correlated X-ray and Radio Variability
• Binary Pulsar Distances and Velocities from Gaia Data Release 2
• Pulsating in unison at optical and X-ray energies: simultaneous high-time resolution observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• Engulfing a radio pulsar: the case of PSR J1023+0038
• Spin frequency distributions of binary millisecond pulsars
• Properties and Evolution of the Redback Millisecond Pulsar Binary PSR J2129-0429
• Unveiling the redback nature of the low-mass X-ray binary XSSJ1227.0-4859 through optical observations
• Multiwavelength Observations of the Redback Millisecond Pulsar J1048+2339
• "Hiccup" accretion in the swinging pulsar IGR J18245-2452
• B-ducted Heating of Black Widow Companions
• Multi-wavelength observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar binary XSSJ12270-4859
• Long-Term Radio Timing Observations of the Transition Millisecond Pulsar PSR~J1023+0038
• Discovery of Gamma-ray Pulsations from the Transitional Redback PSR J1227-4853
• The Synchrotron Emission Pattern of IntraBinary Shocks
• Accreting pulsars: mixing-up accretion phases in transitional systems
• Order parameters for the high-energy spectra of pulsars
• Pulsar wind-heated accretion disk and the origin of modes in transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• Pressure Balance and Intrabinary Shock Stability in Rotation-Powered State Redback and Transitional Millisecond Pulsar Binary Systems
• Variable Heating and Flaring of Three Redback Millisecond Pulsar Companions
• Spectral and timing properties of IGR J00291+5934 during its 2015 outburst
• Search for transitions between states in redbacks and black widows using seven years of Fermi-LAT observations
• Low-radio-frequency eclipses of the redback pulsar J2215+5135 observed in the image plane with LOFAR
• Keck Spectroscopy of Millisecond Pulsar J2215+5135: a Moderate-M_NS, High-Inclination Binary
• Synchro-curvature modelling of the multi-frequency non-thermal emission of pulsars
• Exploring the intrabinary shock from the redback millisecond pulsar PSR J2129-0429
• Probing X-ray emission in different modes of PSR J1023+0038 with a radio pulsar scenario
• A NuSTAR Observation of the Gamma-ray Emitting Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1723-2837
• X-Ray Studies of Redbacks
• Mid-UV Studies of the Transitional Millisecond Pulsars XSS J12270-4859 and PSR J1023+0038 During Their Radio Pulsar States
• X-Ray and Optical Properties of Black Widows and Redbacks

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Transitional millisecond pulsars
• A New Candidate Transitional Millisecond Pulsar in the Sub-luminous Disk State: 4FGL J0407.7--5702
• Gamma-ray Eclipses and Orbital Modulation Transitions in the Candidate Redback 4FGL J1702.7-5655
• Simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar candidate CXOU J110926.4-650224. The discovery of a variable radio counterpart
• Multiwavelength evidence for a new flare-mode transitional millisecond pulsar
• The neutron star population in M28: a joint Chandra/GBT look at pulsar paradise
• Evidence of intra-binary shock emission from the redback pulsar PSR J1048+2339
• Gamma-ray orbital modulation of the transitioning millisecond pulsar binary XSS J12270-4859
• Detection of low-luminosity X-ray pulsations from the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17511-3057: An ever-thinning thread between bright accretion and sub-luminous states
• "Spider" Millisecond Pulsar Binaries as Potential TeV Emitters