Timing models for the long-orbital period binary pulsar PSR B1259-63

Abstract

The pulsar PSR B1259-63 is in a highly eccentric 3.4-yr orbit with the Be star SS 2883. Timing observations of this pulsar, made over a 7-yr period using the Parkes 64-m radio telescope, cover two periastron passages, in 1990 August and 1994 January. The timing data cannot be fitted by the normal pulsar and Keplerian binary parameters. A timing solution including a (non-precessing) Keplerian orbit and timing noise (represented as a polynomial of fifth order in time) provide a satisfactory fit to the data. However, because the Be star probably has a significant quadrupole moment, we prefer to interpret the data by a combination of timing noise, dominated by a cubic phase term, and $\dot{\omega }$ and $\dot{x}$ terms. We show that the $\dot{\omega }$ and $\dot{x}$ are likely to be a result of a precessing orbit caused by the quadrupole moment of the tilted companion star. We further rule out a number of possible physical effects which could contribute to the timing data of PSR B1259-63 on a measurable level.

LaTeX, 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Cited by in corpus (25)

• Gamma-ray binaries and related systems
• Frame dragging and other precessional effects in black hole-pulsar binaries
• Strong-Field Tests of Gravity Using Pulsars and Black Holes
• PSR J1756-2251: a new relativistic double neutron star system
• Neutron Star Kicks in Isolated and Binary Pulsars: Observational Constraints and Implications for Kick Mechanisms
• Discovery of a Young Radio Pulsar in a Relativistic Binary Orbit
• Discovery of GeV gamma-ray emission from PSR B1259-63/LS 2883
• Tidal Warping of Be Star Decretion Discs
• Modelling the light curves of PSR B1259-63/LS 2883-II.The effects of anisotropic pulsar wind and Doppler-boosting
• Upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope timing of NGC 1851A: a possible millisecond pulsar-neutron star system
• GMRT Discovery of A Millisecond Pulsar in a Very Eccentric Binary System
• Discovery of extended and variable radio structure from the gamma-ray binary system PSR B1259-63/LS 2883
• The geometric distance and binary orbit of PSR B1259-63
• Large-scale flow dynamics and radiation in pulsar gamma-ray binaries
• Gravity experiments with radio pulsars
• A Search for TeV Gamma-ray Emission from the PSR B1259-63/SS2883 Binary System with the CANGAROO-II 10-m Telescope
• X-Ray/Gamma-Ray Observations of the PSR B1259-63/SS 2883 system near Apastron
• Modeling the multi-wavelength light curves of PSR B1259-63/SS 2883
• Post-Newtonian Theory for Precision Doppler Measurements of Binary Star Orbits
• Gamma-rays from binary system with energetic pulsar and Be star with aspherical wind: PSR B1259-63/SS2883
• Origin of the transient unpulsed radio emission from the PSR B1259-63 binary system
• On the Rarity of X-Ray Binaries with Naked Helium Donors
• Non-pulsed emission from the binary system PSR B1259-63
• Toward an understanding of the periastron puzzle of PSR B1259-63
• Long-term timing of the relativistic binary PSR J1906+0746