"Little Green Men" and First Observation of the Cosmic "Propeller Regime"
The phenomenon is associated with the so-called “propeller effect,” which was predicted more than 40 years ago. However, this is the first study to reliably observe the transition of the two X-ray pulsars 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53 to the “propeller regime.”
The results of the observations, the conclusions reached by the researchers, and the relevant calculations were published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
An X-ray pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star with a strong magnetic field. A neutron star can be part of a binary system. In a process that astrophysicists call accretion, the neutron star can channel gas from its normal star companion. The attracted gas spirals toward the neutron star forming an accretion disk, which is disrupted at the magnetosphere radius.
Credit; MIPT
During accretion the matter penetrates to a certain extent into the magnetosphere, “freezes into it,” and flows along the lines of the magnetic field toward the magnetic poles of the neutron star. Falling toward the poles, the gas is heated to several hundred million degrees, which causes the emission of X-rays. If the magnetic axis of a neutron star is skewed relative to its rotational axis, the X-ray beams it emits rotate in a manner that resembles the way beacons work. For an “onshore” observer, the source appears to be sending signals at regular intervals ranging from fractions of a second to several minutes.
A neutron star is one of the possible remnants left behind by a supernova. It can be formed at the end of stellar evolution, if the original star was massive enough to allow gravitation to compress the stellar matter enough to make electrons combine with protons yielding neutrons. The magnetic field of a neutron star can be more than ten orders of magnitude stronger that any magnetic field that could be achieved on Earth.
A binary system where the normal star has filled its Roche lobe.
Credit; MIPT
In a binary system, an X-ray pulsar is observed when the neutron star is accreting matter from its normal star companion—often a giant or a supergiant characterized by a strong stellar wind (ejection of matter into space). Alternatively, it can be a smaller star like our own Sun that has filled its Roche lobe—the region beyond which it is unable to hold on to the matter attracted by the gravity of the neutron star companion.
The 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53 pulsars are irregular X-ray sources (transients), owing to the fact that their stellar companions belong to the rather unusual Be star class. The axial rotation of a Be star is so rapid that it occasionally starts “bulging” at the equator, whereby a gas disk is formed around it, filling the Roche lobe. The neutron star starts rapidly accreting the gas from its “donor” companion, causing a sharp increase in X-ray emission called an X-ray outburst.
A NASA video showing the accretion of matter by a pulsar from its companion star.
Credit; MIPT
The transition of a pulsar into the propeller mode is challenging to observe, as the low luminosity state cannot be detected easily. For 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53, this was attempted following the previous outbursts of these sources. However, the instruments available at the time were not sensitive enough to see the pulsars in the “off-mode.” This study is the first to demonstrate reliably that these two sources do indeed “black out.”
Contacts and sources:
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT)
Citation: Propeller effect in two brightest transient X-ray pulsars: 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53 Astronomy & Astrophysics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201628236
Source:
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