Related papers: Galactic Collapsed Objects
Apart from the few tens of stellar-mass black holes discovered in binary systems, an order of $10^8$ isolated black holes (IBHs) are believed to be lurking in our Galaxy. Although some IBHs are able to accrete matter from the interstellar…
Isolated neutron stars undergoing non-radial oscillations are expected to emit gravitational waves in the kilohertz frequency range. To date, radio astronomers have located about 1,300 pulsars, and can estimate that there are about 2 times…
The magnetic structure in the Galactic disk, the Galactic center and the Galactic halo can be delineated more clearly than ever before. In the Galactic disk, the magnetic structure has been revealed by starlight polarization within 2 or 3…
In the last years, optical studies of Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) have expanded from the more classical rotation-powered ones to other categories, like the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs), which make…
The supermassive black holes harboured in active galactic nuclei are at the origin of powerful jets which can emit copious amounts of gamma-rays. The exact interplay between the infalling matter, the black hole and the relativistic outflow…
Some of the theoretical challenges posed by the general relativistic description of binary systems of compact objects (neutron stars or black holes) are reviewed. We recall the various ways one can use the theory of the motion, and of the…
The last decade has shown us that the observational properties of neutron stars are remarkably diverse. From magnetars to rotating radio transients, from radio pulsars to `isolated neutron stars,' from central compact objects to millisecond…
We summarize our current knowledge of neutron star masses and radii. Recent instrumentation and computational advances have resulted in a rapid increase in the discovery rate and precise timing of radio pulsars in binaries in the last few…
Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars, that radiate at the expense of their strong magnetic field and their high surface temperature. Five decades of multi-wavelength observations showed a large variety of physical parameters, such as…
In this work we report spectrophotometric observations of a planetary nebula sample towards the galactic bulge. A total of 45 PNe was observed and their physical parameters (electron density and temperature) were derived. Ionic abundances…
Compact objects are the name used to classify the following objects: white dwarf, neutron star and black holes. In addition to them, some authors have suggested that in the core of a neutron star we may have the quarks u,d,s and c. In this…
A combination of ground-based and spacecraft observations has uncovered two black holes of 10 billion solar masses in the nearby Universe. The finding sheds light on how these cosmic monsters co-evolve with galaxies.
The visual distortion effects visible to an observer traveling around and descending to the surface of an extremely compact star are described. Specifically, trips to a ``normal" neutron star, a black hole, and an ultracompact neutron star…
Accreting binaries containing a black hole are stellar systems composed of a normal star and a black hole. Because of the strong gravitational pull of the black hole, matter is removed from the companion star and falls into the compact ob…
After two decades of efforts to identify the enigmatic dark matter that comprises the dominant form of matter in our galaxy, the mass range for viable candidates appears to have been reduced by more than 50 orders of magnitude. Positive…
(Abridged) Since its launch in October 2002, the INTEGRAL satellite has revolutionized our knowledge of the hard X-ray sky thanks to its unprecedented imaging capabilities and source detection positional accuracy above 20 keV. Nevertheless,…
In previous work we found that many of the spectral properties of low mass x-ray binaries, including galactic black hole candidates could be explained by a magnetic propeller model that requires an intrinsically magnetized central object.…
We collate the evidence for rotation-powered neutron stars that are visible as X-ray sources and not as radio pulsars. Quantitative upper limits exist for the radio fluxes of eight objects, revealing a population at least an order of…
This chapter discusses the implications of X-ray binaries on our knowledge of Type Ibc and Type II supernovae. X-ray binaries contain accreting neutron stars and stellar--mass black holes which are the end points of massive star evolution.…
Neutron Stars are among the most exotic objects in the Universe. A neutron star, with a mass of 1.4-2 Solar masses within a radius of about 10-15 km, is the most compact stable configuration of matter in which degeneracy pressure can still…