Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 859, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aabde6
Keywords
binaries: general; pulsars: general; pulsars: individual (PSR J2215+5135); stars: neutron; stars: variables: general; X-rays: binaries
Categories
Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) [AYA2013-42627]
- UVES Paranal Observatory Project (ESO DDT Program) [266.D-5655]
- EU [702638]
- Marie Curie Actions (MSCA) [702638] Funding Source: Marie Curie Actions (MSCA)
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New millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in compact binaries provide a good opportunity to search for the most massive neutron stars. Their main-sequence companion stars are often strongly irradiated by the pulsar, displacing the effective center of light from their barycenter and making mass measurements uncertain. We present a series of optical spectroscopic and photometric observations of PSR. J2215+5135, a redback binary MSP in a 4.14. hr orbit, and measure a drastic temperature contrast between the dark/cold (T-N = 5660(-380)(+260) K) and bright/hot (T-D = 8080(-280)(+470) K) sides of the companion star. We find that the radial velocities depend systematically on the atmospheric absorption lines used to measure them. Namely, the semi- amplitude of the radial velocity curve (RVC) of J2215 measured with magnesium triplet lines is systematically higher than that measured with hydrogen Balmer lines, by 10%. We interpret this as a consequence of strong irradiation, whereby metallic lines dominate the dark side of the companion (which moves faster) and Balmer lines trace its bright (slower) side. Further, using a physical model of an irradiated star to fit simultaneously the two-species RVCs and the three-band light curves, we find a center-of- mass velocity of K-2 = 412.3 +/- 5.0 km s(-1) and an orbital inclination i = 63 degrees.9(-2.7)(+2.4). Our model is able to reproduce the observed fluxes and velocities without invoking irradiation by an extended source. We measure masses of M-1 = 2.27(0.15)(+0.17) M circle dot and M-2 = 0.33(0.02)(+0.03). M circle dot for the neutron star and the companion star, respectively. If confirmed, such a massive pulsar would rule out some of the proposed equations of state for the neutron star interior.
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