Physics & Astronomy
Event Title
Studies of Millisecond Pulsars in the Very High-Energy Regime
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Start Date
10-4-2015 1:30 PM
End Date
10-4-2015 2:00 PM
Sponsor
John Millis (Anderson University)
Description
Millisecond pulsars are old neutron stars that have been spun-up to high angular frequencies by the accretion of matter from a companion star. High-energy photons have been detected from these regions, including gamma-rays in the Fermi energy band. It is anticipated that the acceleration of charged particles in the magnetosphere of the pulsar could produce a significant flux of pulsed gamma-rays above 150 GeV. VERITAS (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is an array of four Air Cherenkov telescopes in southern Arizona that is sensitive to radiation between 150 GeV and 25 TeV. Recently, this instrument was used to observe the millisecond pulsar PSR J0023+09, a radio and Fermi detected object in binary with a low mass companion. A brief overview of the analysis method and results are here presented, as well as possible implications of results on prevailing theories.
Studies of Millisecond Pulsars in the Very High-Energy Regime
Indianapolis, IN
Millisecond pulsars are old neutron stars that have been spun-up to high angular frequencies by the accretion of matter from a companion star. High-energy photons have been detected from these regions, including gamma-rays in the Fermi energy band. It is anticipated that the acceleration of charged particles in the magnetosphere of the pulsar could produce a significant flux of pulsed gamma-rays above 150 GeV. VERITAS (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is an array of four Air Cherenkov telescopes in southern Arizona that is sensitive to radiation between 150 GeV and 25 TeV. Recently, this instrument was used to observe the millisecond pulsar PSR J0023+09, a radio and Fermi detected object in binary with a low mass companion. A brief overview of the analysis method and results are here presented, as well as possible implications of results on prevailing theories.