Physics & Astronomy

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

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.

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Apr 10th, 1:30 PM Apr 10th, 2:00 PM

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.