Binary Millisecond Pulsar Discovery via Gamma-Ray Pulsations

Pletsch HJ; Guillemot L; Fehrmann H; Allen B; Kramer M; Aulbert C; Ackermann M; Ajello M; de Angelis A; Atwood WB; Baldini L; Ballet J; Barbiellini G; Bastieri D; Bechtol K; Bellazzini R; Borgland AW; Bottacini E; Brandt TJ; Bregeon J; Brigida M; Bruel P; Buehler R; Buson S; Caliandro GA; Cameron RA; Caraveo PA; Casandjian JM; Cecchi C; Celik O; Charles E; Chaves RCG; Cheung CC; Chiang J; Ciprini S; Claus R; Cohen-Tanugi J; Conrad J; Cutini S; D'Ammando F; Dermer CD; Digel SW; Drell PS; Drlica-Wagner A; Dubois R; Dumora D; Favuzzi C; Ferrara EC; Franckowiak A; Fukazawa Y; Fusco P; Gargano F; Gehrels N; Germani S; Giglietto N; Giordano F; Giroletti M; Godfrey G; Grenier IA; Grondin MH; Grove JE; Guiriec S; Hadasch D; Hanabata Y; Harding AK; den Hartog PR; Hayashida M; Hays E; Hill AB; Hou X; Hughes RE; Johannesson G; Jackson MS; Jogler T; Johnson AS; Johnson WN; Kataoka J; Kerr M; Knodlseder J; Kuss M; Lande J; Larsson S; Latronico L; Lemoine-Goumard M; Longo F; Loparco F; Lovellette MN; Lubrano P; Massaro F; Mayer M; Mazziotta MN; McEnery JE; Mehault J; Michelson PF; Mitthumsiri W; Mizuno T; Monzani ME; Morselli A; Moskalenko IV; Murgia S; Nakamori T; Nemmen R; Nuss E; Ohno M; Ohsugi T; Omodei N; Orienti M; Orlando E; de Palma F; Paneque D; Perkins JS; Piron F; Pivato G; Porter TA; Raino S; Rando R; Ray PS; Razzano M; Reimer A; Reimer O; Reposeur T; Ritz S; Romani RW; Romoli C; Sanchez DA; Parkinson PMS; Schulz A; Sgro C; Silva EDE; Siskind EJ; Smith DA; Spandre G; Spinelli P; Suson DJ; Takahashi H; Tanaka T; Thayer JB; Thayer JG; Thompson DJ; Tibaldo L; Tinivella M; Troja E; Usher TL; Vandenbroucke J; Vasileiou V; Vianello G; Vitale V; Waite AP; Winer BL; Wood KS; Wood M; Yang Z; Zimmer S

Science, Vol.338, No.6112, 1314-1317, 2012

DOI10.1126/science.1229054 Export Citation

Binary Millisecond Pulsar Discovery via Gamma-Ray Pulsations

Pletsch HJ, Guillemot L, Fehrmann H, Allen B, Kramer M, Aulbert C, Ackermann M, Ajello M, de Angelis A, Atwood WB, Baldini L, Ballet J, Barbiellini G, Bastieri D, Bechtol K, Bellazzini R, Borgland AW, Bottacini E, Brandt TJ, Bregeon J, Brigida M, Bruel P, Buehler R, Buson S, Caliandro GA, Cameron RA, Caraveo PA, Casandjian JM, Cecchi C, Celik O, Charles E, Chaves RCG, Cheung CC, Chiang J, Ciprini S, Claus R, Cohen-Tanugi J, Conrad J, Cutini S, D'Ammando F, Dermer CD, Digel SW, Drell PS, Drlica-Wagner A, Dubois R, Dumora D, Favuzzi C, Ferrara EC, Franckowiak A, Fukazawa Y, Fusco P, Gargano F, Gehrels N, Germani S, Giglietto N, Giordano F, Giroletti M, Godfrey G, Grenier IA, Grondin MH, Grove JE, Guiriec S, Hadasch D, Hanabata Y, Harding AK, den Hartog PR, Hayashida M, Hays E, Hill AB, Hou X, Hughes RE, Johannesson G, Jackson MS, Jogler T, Johnson AS, Johnson WN, Kataoka J, Kerr M, Knodlseder J, Kuss M, Lande J, Larsson S, Latronico L, Lemoine-Goumard M, Longo F, Loparco F, Lovellette MN, Lubrano P, Massaro F, Mayer M, Mazziotta MN, McEnery JE, Mehault J, Michelson PF, Mitthumsiri W, Mizuno T, Monzani ME, Morselli A, Moskalenko IV, Murgia S, Nakamori T, Nemmen R, Nuss E, Ohno M, Ohsugi T, Omodei N, Orienti M, Orlando E, de Palma F, Paneque D, Perkins JS, Piron F, Pivato G, Porter TA, Raino S, Rando R, Ray PS, Razzano M, Reimer A, Reimer O, Reposeur T, Ritz S, Romani RW, Romoli C, Sanchez DA, Parkinson PMS, Schulz A, Sgro C, Silva EDE, Siskind EJ, Smith DA, Spandre G, Spinelli P, Suson DJ, Takahashi H, Tanaka T, Thayer JB, Thayer JG, Thompson DJ, Tibaldo L, Tinivella M, Troja E, Usher TL, Vandenbroucke J, Vasileiou V, Vianello G, Vitale V, Waite AP, Winer BL, Wood KS, Wood M, Yang Z, Zimmer S

Millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars spun up by accreting matter from a companion star, can reach high rotation rates of hundreds of revolutions per second. Until now, all such "recycled" rotation-powered pulsars have been detected by their spin-modulated radio emission. In a computing-intensive blind search of gamma-ray data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (with partial constraints from optical data), we detected a 2.5-millisecond pulsar, PSR J1311-3430. This unambiguously explains a formerly unidentified gamma-ray source that had been a decade-long enigma, confirming previous conjectures. The pulsar is in a circular orbit with an orbital period of only 93 minutes, the shortest of any spin-powered pulsar binary ever found.