Related papers: X-Ray and Optical Properties of Black Widows and R…
Eclipsing millisecond pulsars in close ($P_b < 1$~day) binary systems provide a different view of pulsar winds and shocks than do isolated pulsars. Since 2009, the numbers of these systems known in the Galactic field has increased…
Black widow and redback systems are compact binaries in which a millisecond pulsar heats and may even ablate its low-mass companion by its intense wind of relativistic particles and radiation. In such systems, an intrabinary shock can form…
A large number of new "black widow" and "redback" energetic millisecond pulsars with irradiated stellar companions have been discovered through radio and optical searches of unidentified \textit{Fermi} sources. Synchrotron emission, from…
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 <…
Eclipsing binary millisecond pulsars (the so-called black widows and redbacks) can provide important information about accretion history, pulsar irradiation of their companion stars and the evolutionary link between accreting X-ray pulsars…
We consider the X-ray properties of the redback class of eclipsing millisecond pulsars. These are transitional systems between accreting low-mass X-ray binaries and binary millisecond pulsars orbiting white dwarfs, and hence their…
The discovery of transitional millisecond pulsars (tMSPs) provided conclusive proof that neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) comprise part of the evolutionary pathway towards binary millisecond pulsars (MSPs). Redback and…
We model millisecond pulsars winds colliding with radiatively-driven companion winds in black widow and redback systems. For the redbacks, the geometry of this intrabinary shock (IBS) is quite sensitive to the expected equatorial…
We present the discovery of a new optical/X-ray source likely associated with the Fermi $\gamma$-ray source 4FGL J1408.6-2917. Its high-amplitude periodic optical variability, large spectroscopic radial velocity semi-amplitude, evidence for…
Redback millisecond pulsars (hereafter redbacks) are a sub-population of eclipsing millisecond pulsars in close binaries. The formation processes of these systems are not clear. The three pulsars showing transitions between rotation- and…
The population of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) has been expanded considerably in the last decade. Not only is their number increasing, but also various classes of them have been revealed. Among different classes of MSPs, the behaviour of…
'Spider' binary systems - black widow and redback compact binaries differentiated by their companion's mass and nature - are an important type of pulsar system exhibiting a rich empirical phenomenology, including radio eclipses, optical…
There has recently been a large increase in the number of known eclipsing radio millisecond pulsars in the Galactic field, many of which are associated with Fermi gamma-ray sources. All are in tight binaries (P_b < 24hr) many of which are…
Black widows are extreme millisecond pulsar binaries where the pulsar wind ablates their low-mass companion stars. Their optical light curves vary periodically due to the high irradiation and tidal distortion of the companion, which allows…
We describe the first X-ray observations of five short orbital period ($P_B < 1$ day), $\gamma$-ray emitting, binary millisecond pulsars. Four of these, PSRs J0023+0923, J1124$-$3653, J1810+1744, and J2256$-$1024 are `black-widow' pulsars,…
Thanks to the high sensitivity of the instruments on board the XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites, it has become possible to explore the properties of the X-ray emission from hot subdwarfs. The small but growing sample of hot subdwarfs…
Context. Two millisecond pulsars, PSR J1513$-$2550 and PSR J2017$-$1614, with spin periods of about 2.1 and 2.3 ms were recently discovered in the radio and $\gamma$-rays and classified as black widow pulsars in tight binary stellar systems…
In a multi-orbit (100 ks) $\mathrm{\it XMM-Newton}$ exposure of the original black widow pulsar, PSR J1959+2048, we measure the strong orbital modulation caused by intrabinary shock (IBS) emission. The IBS light curve peak appears…
The wealth of detections of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in $\gamma$-rays by {\em Fermi} has spurred searches for these objects among the several unidentified $\gamma$-ray sources. Interesting targets are a sub-class of binary MSPs, dubbed…
Several redback and black widow millisecond pulsar binaries have episodes of flaring in X-rays and optical. We initially detected such behavior from the Fermi selected redback candidate 1FGL J0523.5$-$2529 during optical time-series…