Related papers: PSR 0943+10: a bare strange star?
The anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) represent a growing class of neutron stars discovered at X-ray energies. While the nature of their multi-wavelength emission mechanism is still under debate, evidence has been recently accumulating in…
The double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039A/B is a double neutron star binary, with a 2.4-hour orbital period, which has allowed measurement of relativistic orbital perturbations to high precision. The low mass of the second-formed neutron…
Peculiar A stars are so named because they exhibit abundance peculiarities in their atmospheres. It is believed that these arise as a result of differentiation of chemical species in large magnetic spots in which convective mixing is…
We present the results of numerical simulations of stationary, spherically outflowing, electron-positron pair winds, with total luminosities in the range 10^{34}- 10^{42} ergs/s. In the concrete example described here, the wind injection…
We report on Australia Telescope Compact Array observations of the ~10^5 yr old pulsar PSR B0906-49. In an image containing only off-pulse emission, we find a weak, slightly extended source coincident with the pulsar's position, which we…
The masses of stars including stellar remnants are almost exclusively known from binary systems. In this work, we study gravitational microlensing of faint background galaxies by isolated neutron stars (pulsars). We show that the resulting…
The Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs) are a class of pulsars understood as neutron stars (NSs) with super strong surface magnetic fields, namely $B\gtrsim10^{14}$ G, and for that reason are known as…
Binary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar with a rotational period of 2.15 ms in a…
Strange stars ought to exist in the universe according to the strange quark matter hypothesis, which states that matter made of roughly equal numbers of up, down, and strange quarks could be the true ground state of baryonic matter rather…
Definitely, an affirmative answer to this question would have implications of fundamental importance for astrophysics (a new class of compact stars), and for the physics of strong interactions (deconfined phase of quark matter, and strange…
Magnetars are a special class of slowly rotating neutron stars with extremely strong magnetic fields -- at least an order of magnitude larger than those of the "normal" radio pulsars. The potential evolutionary links and differences between…
The 840 kyr old pulsar PSR J1957+5033, detected so far only in $\gamma$- and X-rays, is a nearby and rather cool neutron star with a temperature of 0.2--0.3 MK, a distance of $\la$1 kpc, and a small colour reddening excess $E(B-V) \approx…
Soft gamma repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars are believed to be magnetars, i.e. neutron stars powered by extreme magnetic fields, B~10^(14)-10^(15) Gauss. The recent discovery of a soft gamma repeater with low magnetic field (<…
Recent measurement of a high millisecond pulsar mass (PSR J1614-2230, 1.97+-0.04 Msun) compared with the low mass of PSR J0751+1807 (1.26+-0.14 Msun) indicates a large span of masses of recycled pulsars and suggests a broad range of neutron…
We present the description and initial results of the TRAPUM (TRAnsients And PUlsars with MeerKAT) search for pulsars associated with supernova remnants (SNRs), pulsar wind nebulae and unidentified TeV emission. The list of sources to be…
A realistic equation of state (EOS) leads to realistic strange stars (ReSS) which are compact in the mass radius plot, close to the Schwarzchild limiting line (Dey et al 1998). Many of the observed stars fit in with this kind of…
Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are enigmatic pulsar-like objects. The energy budget is the fundamental problem in their studies. In the magnetar model, they are supposed to be powered by the extremely…
Highly magnetised rapidly spinning neutron stars are widely considered to be natural sites for acceleration of charged particles. Powerful acceleration mechanism due to unipolar induction is thought to operate in the magnetospheres of…
As many as $10^9$ neutron stars populate the Galaxy, but only $\approx 10^3$ are directly observed as pulsars or as accreting sources in X-ray binaries. In principle also the accretion of the interstellar medium may make isolated neutron…
Pulsars are among the most mysterious astrophysical objects in the Universe and are believed to be rotating neutron stars formed in supernova explosions. They are unique testing grounds of dense matter theories and gravitational physics and…