4U 0142+61

4U 0142+61 is a magnetar at an approximate distance of 13000 light-years from Earth, located in the constellation Cassiopeia.

4U 0142+61

Artist's conception of 4U 0142+61
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Cassiopeia
Right ascension 01 46 22.41s
Declination + 61° 45' 03.2"
Apparent magnitude (V) 25.62
Characteristics
B−V color index 0.63
Variable type Suspected
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ) RA: 26.58958 mas/yr
Dec.: +61.75264 mas/yr
Details
Radius16.1 km[1] R☉
Luminosity0.63 L☉
Rotation8.68832905 s
Age? years
Other designations
PSR J0146+61, 1RXS J014621.5+614509
Database references
SIMBADdata

In an article published in Nature on April 6, 2006, Deepto Chakrabarty et al. of MIT revealed that a circumstellar disk was discovered around the pulsar. This may prove that pulsar planets are common around neutron stars. The debris disk is likely to be composed of mainly heavier metals. The star had undergone a supernova event approximately 100,000 years ago. The disk orbits about 1.6 million kilometers away from the pulsar and probably contains about 10 Earth-masses of material.[2] This also marks the first time that a pulsar has been discovered with a debris disk orbiting it.[3]

In May 2022, the first study by the IXPE space observatory hinted at the possibility of vacuum birefringence on 4U 0142+61.[4][5]

In November 2022, astronomers using the IXPE reported that the star may have a solid surface, with no atmosphere.[6][7]

References
  1. Cheng, K. S.; Zhang, L. (2001). "High‐Energy Gamma‐Ray Emission from Anomalous X‐Ray Pulsars". The Astrophysical Journal. 562 (2): 918–924. Bibcode:2001ApJ...562..918C. doi:10.1086/323857. hdl:10722/43336. S2CID 123042196.
  2. Wang, Zhongxiang; Chakrabarty, Deepto; Kaplan, David L. (April 2006). "A debris disk around an isolated young neutron star". Nature. 440 (7085): 772–775. arXiv:astro-ph/0604076. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..772W. doi:10.1038/nature04669. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 16598251. S2CID 4372235.
  3. Ertan, Ü; Erkut, M. H.; Ekşi, K. Y.; Alpar, M. A. (March 2007). "The Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61: A Neutron Star with a Gaseous Fallback Disk". The Astrophysical Journal. 657 (1): 441–447. arXiv:astro-ph/0612587. Bibcode:2007ApJ...657..441E. doi:10.1086/510303. S2CID 16726942.
  4. Taverna, Roberto; Turolla, Roberto; Muleri, Fabio; Heyl, Jeremy; Zane, Silvia; Baldini, Luca; Caniulef, Denis González; Bachetti, Matteo; Rankin, John; Caiazzo, Ilaria; Di Lalla, Niccolò; Doroshenko, Victor; Errando, Manel; Gau, Ephraim; Kırmızıbayrak, Demet (2022-05-18). "Polarized x-rays from a magnetar". Science. 378 (6620): 646–650. arXiv:2205.08898. Bibcode:2022Sci...378..646T. doi:10.1126/science.add0080. PMID 36356124. S2CID 248863030.
  5. "X-ray polarisation probes extreme physics". CERN Courier. 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  6. "Magnetised dead star likely has solid surface". UCL. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  7. "NASA's IXPE Finds Powerful Magnetic Fields and Solid Crust at Neutron Star". NASA. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.


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