Date

1992-07-20

Author

FINLEY, JP
OGELMAN, H
KIZILOGLU, U

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PSR 0656+14, an X-ray-emitting radio pulsar, was observed for approximately 3200 s with the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) on board ROSAT on 1991 March 25. The source background-subtracted counting rate was 1.96+/-0.03 counts s-1. Pulsations at the radio period, approximately 0.385 s, were detected at a pulsed fraction of 14%+/-2% making PSR 0656+14 one of only a handful of known isolated X-ray-emitting pulsars. The spectral distribution of counts can be described by various model fits. A blackbody description yields a surface temperature of approximately (9.0+/-0.4) x 10(5) K, an equivalent column density of approximately (1.0+/-0.2) x 10(20) cm-2, and a stellar radius of 10 km under the assumption of a 500 pc source distance. An alternative description is a blackbody modified by the presence of a He atmosphere with surface temperature approximately (3.0+/-0.5) x 10(5) K, column density approximately (2.0+/-0.4) x 10(20) cm-1, and a source distance less-than-or-equal-to 250 pc. A positive correlation exists between the phase of the pulsed emission and the X-ray hardness, suggesting that the pulsations have their seat in a "hot spot" on the neutron star surface. Implications of the models with regard to the cooling curve of neutron stars is discussed.

Subject Keywords

Space and Planetary Science, Astronomy and Astrophysics

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/66635

Collections

Department of Physics, Article