Related papers: Neutron Star Astronomy with the E-ELT
About 25 isolated neutron stars (INSs) are now detected in the optical domain, mainly thanks to the HST and to VLT-class telescopes. The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) will yield ~100 new identifications, many of which from the…
Forty years have gone by since the optical identification of the Crab pulsar (PSR B0531+21), and 25 isolated neutron stars of different types have been now identified. Observations with ESO telescopes historically played a pivotal role in…
Being fast rotating objects, Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) are natural targets for high-time resolution observations across the whole electromagnetic spectrum. With the number of objects detected at optical (plus ultraviolet and infrared)…
Almost 30 Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) of different flavours have been identified at optical, ultraviolet, or infrared (UVOIR) wavelengths. Here, I present a short review of the historical background and describe the scientific impact of…
Forty years elapsed since the optical identification of the first isolated neutron star (INS), the Crab pulsar. 25 INSs have been now identified in the optical (O), near-ultraviolet (nUV), or near-infrared (nIR), hereafter UVOIR, including…
Plans for the next generation of optical-infrared telescopes, the Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs), are well advanced. With primary apertures in excess of 20m, they will revolutionise our ground-based capabilities. In this review I…
While isolated neutron stars (INSs) are among the brightest gamma-ray sources, they are among the faintest ones in the optical, and their study is a challenging task which require the most powerful telescopes. HST has lead neutron star…
Since its launch in 1990, HST has played a leading role in optical studies of isolated neutron stars, both radio-loud pulsars and radio-silent ones, paving the way to follow-up observations performed with 8m-class telescopes, like the VLT,…
Being fast rotating objects, isolated neutron stars (INSs) are obvious targets for high-time resolution observations. With the number of optical/UV/IR INS detections now increased to 24, timing observations become more and more important in…
Forty years passed since the optical identification of the first isolated neutron star (INS), the Crab pulsar. 25 INSs have been now identified in the optical (O), near-ultraviolet (nUV), or near-infrared (nIR), hereafter UVOIR, including…
In May 1982, when Italy joined ESO, only two isolated neutron stars (INSs) had been identified in the optical: the Crab and Vela pulsars. Thanks to the ESO telescopes and the perseverance of a few Italian astronomers, now about 30 INSs have…
Given their intrinsic faintness, isolated neutron stars represent an elusive target for optical astronomy. Up to date, an optical counterpart has been identified only for a very tiny fraction of the overall population of more than 1000…
Only 1% of the Isolated Neutron Star (INS) population has been identified in the optical, albeit with different degrees of confidence. Optical observations of INSs are reviewed and their emission properties discussed in an evolutionary…
The state of the art of optical studies of Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) and their Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) is reviewed. In addition, results obtained from recent HST and VLT observations are presented and discussed.
High-energy observations have unveiled peculiar classes of isolated neutron stars which, at variance with radio pulsars, are mostly radio silent and not powered by the star rotation. Among these objects are the magnetars, hyper-magnetized…
New facilities and technologies have advanced our understanding of massive stars significantly over the past 30 years. Here I introduce a new large survey of massive stars using VLT-FLAMES, noting the target fields and observed binary…
The workhorse instruments of the 8-10m class observatories have become their multi-object spectrographs (MOS), providing comprehensive follow-up to both ground-based and space-borne imaging. With the advent of deeper imaging surveys from,…
HST observations have contributed significantly to our knowledge on the behaviour of Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) as optical emitters. First, HST has been instrumental both to discover new optical counterparts (PSR B1055-52, PSR B1929+10,…
A four-year sky survey with the use of the eROSITA telescope on board the Spektr-RG observatory will provide the best coverage in the soft (0.5-2 keV) and standard (2-10 keV) X-ray ranges, both in terms of sensitivity and angular…
The X-ray spectra of isolated neutron stars (INSs) typically include a thermal component, that comes from the cooling surface, and a non-thermal component, produced by highly-relativistic particles accelerated in the stellar magnetosphere.…