Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Continued Neutron Star Crust Cooling Of The 11 Hz X-Ray Pulsar In Terzan 5: A Challenge To Heating And Cooling Models?, N. Degenaar, R. Wijnands, E. F. Brown, D. Altamirano, E. M. Cackett, J. Fridriksson, J. Homan, C. O. Heinke, J. M. Miller, D. Pooley, G. R. Sivakoff

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

The transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary and 11 Hz X-ray pulsar IGR J17480-2446 in the globular cluster Terzan 5 exhibited an 11 week accretion outburst in 2010. Chandra observations performed within five months after the end of the outburst revealed evidence that the crust of the neutron star became substantially heated during the accretion episode and was subsequently cooling in quiescence. This provides the rare opportunity to probe the structure and composition of the crust. Here, we report on new Chandra observations of Terzan 5 that extend the monitoring to sime2.2 yr into quiescence. We find that the thermal …