Over the last few years, the number of known eclipsing radio millisecond pulsar systems in the Galactic field has dramatically increased, with many being associated with Fermi gamma-ray sources. All are in tight binaries (orbital period < 24 hr) with many being classical "black widows" which have very low mass companions (companion mass Mc << 0.1 Msol) but some are "redbacks" with low mass (Mc ~ 0.2 - 0.4Msol) companions which are probably non-degenerate. These latter are systems where the mass transfer process may have only temporarily halted, and so are transitional systems between low mass X-ray binaries and ordinary binary millisecond pulsars. Here we review the new discoveries and their multi-wavelength properties, and briefly discuss models of shock emission, mass determinations, and evolutionary scenarios.
@article{arxiv.1210.6903,
title = {Surrounded by Spiders! New Black Widows and Redbacks in the Galactic Field},
author = {Mallory S. E. Roberts},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1210.6903},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Proceedings of IAUS 291 "Neutron Stars and Pulsars: Challenges and Opportunities after 80 years", J. van Leeuwen (ed.); 6 pages, 2 figures