Enhanced x-ray emission coinciding with giant radio pulses from the Crab Pulsar.

Giant radio pulses (GRPs) are sporadic bursts emitted by some pulsars that last a few microseconds and are hundreds to thousands of times brighter than regular pulses from these sources. The only GRP-associated emission outside of radio wavelengths is from the Crab Pulsar, where optical emission is enhanced by a few percentage points during GRPs. We observed the Crab Pulsar simultaneously at x-ray and radio wavelengths, finding enhancement of the x-ray emission by 3.8 ± 0.7% (a 5.4σ detection) coinciding with GRPs. This implies that the total emitted energy from GRPs is tens to hundreds of times higher than previously known. We discuss the implications for the pulsar emission mechanism and extragalactic fast radio bursts.

NICER and Fermi GBM Observations of the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-ray Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124.

Swift J0243.6+6124 is a newly discovered Galactic Be/X-ray binary, revealed in late September 2017 in a giant outburst with a peak luminosity of 2 × 1039(d/7 kpc)2 erg s-1 (0.1-10 keV), with no formerly reported activity. At this luminosity, Swift J0243.6+6124 is the first known galactic ultraluminous X-ray pulsar. We describe Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) timing and spectral analyses for this source. A new orbital ephemeris is obtained for the binary system using spin-frequencies measured with GBM and 15-50 keV fluxes measured with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Burst Alert Telescope to model the system's intrinsic spin-up. Power spectra measured with NICER show considerable evolution with luminosity, including a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) near 50 mHz that is omnipresent at low luminosity and has an evolving central frequency. Pulse profiles measured over the combined 0.2-100 keV range show complex evolution that is both luminosity and energy dependent. Near the critical luminosity of L ~ 1038 erg s-1, the pulse profiles transition from single-peaked to double peaked, the pulsed fraction reaches a minimum in all energy bands, and the hardness ratios in both NICER and GBM show a turn-over to softening as the intensity increases. This behavior repeats as the outburst rises and fades, indicating two distinct accretion regimes. These two regimes are suggestive of the accretion structure on the neutron star surface transitioning from a Coulomb collisional stopping mechanism at lower luminosities to a radiation-dominated stopping mechanism at higher luminosities. This is the highest observed (to date) value of the critical luminosity, suggesting a magnetic field of B ~ 1013 G.

Support for temporally varying behavior of the Pioneer anomaly from the extended Pioneer 10 and 11 Doppler data sets.

The Pioneer anomaly is a small sunward anomalous acceleration found in the trajectory analysis of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft. As part of the investigation of the effect, the analysis of recently recovered Doppler data for both spacecraft has been completed. The presence of a small anomalous acceleration is confirmed by using data spans more than twice as long as those that were previously analyzed. We examine the constancy and direction of the Pioneer anomaly and conclude that (i) the data favor a temporally decaying anomalous acceleration (~2×10(-11) m/s(2)/yr) with an over 10% improvement in the residuals compared to a constant acceleration model, (ii) although the direction of the acceleration remains imprecisely determined, we find no support in favor of a Sun-pointing direction over the Earth-pointing or along the spin-axis directions, and (iii) support for an early "onset" of the acceleration remains weak in the pre-Saturn Pioneer 11 tracking data. We present these new findings and discuss their implications for the nature of the Pioneer anomaly.

A powerful bursting radio source towards the Galactic Centre.

Transient astronomical sources are typically powered by compact objects and usually signify highly explosive or dynamic events. Although high-time-resolution observations are often possible in radio astronomy, they are usually limited to quite narrow fields of view. The dynamic radio sky is therefore poorly sampled, in contrast to the situation in the X-ray and gamma-ray bands in which wide-field instruments routinely detect transient sources. Here we report a transient radio source, GCRT J1745-3009, which was detected during a moderately wide-field monitoring programme of the Galactic Centre region at 0.33 GHz. The characteristics of its bursts are unlike those known for any other class of radio transient. If located in or near the Galactic Centre, its brightness temperature (approximately 10(16) K) and the implied energy density within GCRT J1745-3009 vastly exceed those observed in most other classes of radio astronomical sources, and are consistent with coherent emission processes that are rarely observed. We conclude that it represents a hitherto unknown class of transient radio sources, the first of possibly many new classes that may be discovered by emerging wide-field radio telescopes.

Nuclear-powered millisecond pulsars and the maximum spin frequency of neutron stars.

Millisecond pulsars are neutron stars that are thought to have been spun-up by mass accretion from a stellar companion. It is not known whether there is a natural brake for this process, or if it continues until the centrifugal breakup limit is reached at submillisecond periods. Many neutron stars that are accreting mass from a companion star exhibit thermonuclear X-ray bursts that last tens of seconds, caused by unstable nuclear burning on their surfaces. Millisecond-period brightness oscillations during bursts from ten neutron stars (as distinct from other rapid X-ray variability that is also observed) are thought to measure the stellar spin, but direct proof of a rotational origin has been lacking. Here we report the detection of burst oscillations at the known spin frequency of an accreting millisecond pulsar, and we show that these oscillations always have the same rotational phase. This firmly establishes burst oscillations as nuclear-powered pulsations tracing the spin of accreting neutron stars, corroborating earlier evidence. The distribution of spin frequencies of the 11 nuclear-powered pulsars cuts off well below the breakup frequency for most neutron-star models, supporting theoretical predictions that gravitational radiation losses can limit accretion torques in spinning up millisecond pulsars.