Pulsars are rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars, created in the gravitational collapse of massive stars. We report the detection of pulsed giga-electron volt gamma rays from the young pulsar PSR J0540-6919 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This is the first gamma-ray pulsar detected in another galaxy. It has the most luminous pulsed gamma-ray emission yet observed, exceeding the Crab pulsar's by a factor of 20. PSR J0540-6919 presents an extreme test case for understanding the structure and evolution of neutron star magnetospheres.
An extremely bright gamma-ray pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud / Ackermann M; Albert A; Baldini L; Ballet J; Barbiellini G; Barbieri C; Bastieri D; Bellazzini R; Bissaldi E; Bonino R; Bottacini E; Brandt TJ; Bregeon J; Bruel P; Buehler R; Caliandro GA; Cameron RA; Caraveo PA; Cecchi C; Charles E; Chekhtman A; Cheung CC; Chiang J; Chiaro G; Ciprini S; Cohen-Tanugi J; Cuoco A; Cutini S; DAmmando F; de Palma F; Desiante R; Digel SW; Di Venere L; Drell PS; Favuzzi C; Fegan SJ; Ferrara EC; Franckowiak A; Funk S; Fusco P; Gargano F; Gasparrini D; Giglietto N; Giordano F; Godfrey G; Grenier IA; Grondin MH; Grove JE; Guillemot L; Guiriec S; Hagiwara K; Harding AK; Hays E; Hewitt JW; Hill AB; Horan D; Johnson TJ; Knodiseder J; Kuss M; Larsson S; Latronico L; Lemoine-Goumard M; Li J; Li L; Longo F; Loparco F; Lovellette MN; Lubrano P; Maldera S; Manfreda A; Marshall F; Martin P; Mayer M; Mazziotta MN; Michelson PF; Mirabal N; Mizuno T; Monzani ME; Morselli A; Moskalenko IV; Murgia S; Naletto G; Nuss E; Ohsugi T; Orienti M; Orlando E; Paneque D; Pesce-Rollins M; Piron F; Pivato G; Porter TA; Raino S; Rando R; Razzano M; Reimer A; Reimer O; Reposeur T; Romani RW; Parkinson PMS; Schulz A; Sgro C; Siskind EJ; Smith DA; Spada F; Spandre G; Spinelli P; Suson DJ; Takahashi H; Thayer JB; Thompson DJ; Tibaldo L; Torres DF; Uchiyama Y; Vianello G; Wood KS; Wood M; Zampieri L. - In: SCIENCE. - ISSN 0036-8075. - STAMPA. - 350:6262(2015), pp. 801-805. [10.1126/science.aac7400]
An extremely bright gamma-ray pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud
D'AMMANDO, FILIPPO;
2015
Abstract
Pulsars are rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars, created in the gravitational collapse of massive stars. We report the detection of pulsed giga-electron volt gamma rays from the young pulsar PSR J0540-6919 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This is the first gamma-ray pulsar detected in another galaxy. It has the most luminous pulsed gamma-ray emission yet observed, exceeding the Crab pulsar's by a factor of 20. PSR J0540-6919 presents an extreme test case for understanding the structure and evolution of neutron star magnetospheres.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
