Journal
NATURE ASTRONOMY
Volume 6, Issue 10, Pages 1203-1212Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41550-022-01766-0
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Funding
- National Key R&D Program of China [2021YFA1600401]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [11925301, 12033006]
- NSFC [11973002, 11988101, 11933004, 12103041, U1831205, 12041301, 12121003, U2031117, 12090044, 11933008, 12103047]
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS [2021055]
- CAS Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research [YSBR-006]
- Cultivation Project for FAST Scientific Payoff and Research Achievement of CAMS-CAS
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2021M702742]
- National Development and Reform Commission
- TAP member institutes
- NASA's Science Mission directorate
- National Science Foundation [AST-1440341]
- collaboration including Caltech, IPAC
- Weizmann Institute for Science
- Oskar Klein Center at Stockholm University
- University of Maryland
- University of Washington
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron and Humboldt University
- Los Alamos National Laboratories
- TANGO Consortium of Taiwan
- University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories
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By utilizing optical time-domain surveys and high-precision photometry, we have discovered a neutron star candidate in a non-accreting and/or non-beaming binary system.
Typically, neutron stars are discovered by observations at radio, X-ray or gamma-ray wavelengths. Unlike radio pulsar surveys and X-ray observations, optical time-domain surveys can unveil and characterize exciting but less explored non-accreting and/ or non-beaming neutron stars in binaries. Here we report the discovery of such a neutron star candidate using the LAMOST spectroscopic survey. The candidate, designated LAMOST J112306.9 + 400736, is in a single-lined spectroscopic binary containing an optically visible M star. The star's large radial velocity variation and ellipsoidal variations indicate a relatively massive unseen companion. Utilizing follow-up spectroscopy from the Palomar 200 in. telescope and high-precision photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, we measure a companion mass of 1.24(-0.03)(+0.03) M-circle dot. Main-sequence stars with this mass are ruled out, leaving a neutron star or a massive white dwarf. Although a massive white dwarf cannot be excluded, the lack of UV excess radiation from the companion supports the neutron star hypothesis. Deep radio observations with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) yielded no detections of either pulsed or persistent emission. J112306.9 + 400736 is not detected in numerous X-ray and gamma-ray surveys, suggesting that the neutron star candidate is not currently accreting and pulsing. Our work exemplifies the capability of discovering compact objects in non-accreting close binaries by synergizing optical time-domain spectroscopy and high-cadence photometry.
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