Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994apj...420l..83p&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 420, no. 2, p. L83-L86
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
16
Globular Clusters, Interplanetary Dust, Interstellar Matter, Neutron Stars, Pulsars, Stellar Envelopes, Angular Momentum, Atmospheric Density, Luminosity, Telescopes, Temperature
Scientific paper
We have searched for thermal dust emission from circumstellar disks around five neutron stars using the Owens Valley millimeter array at 99 GHz and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope at 380 GHz. Two of the neutron stars (PSR 0950+08 and 1133+16) are nearby isolated pulsars with characteristic ages 106 to 107 yr. The remaining three (PSR 1257+12, 1534+12, and 1937+21) are old millisecond pulsars with ages in the range 108 to 109 yr. None of the pulsars was detected above the noise, giving 2 sigma limits on the mass of disk material of approximately 10-2 solar mass if their disks are similar to those around pre-main-sequence stars. We discuss mechanisms for clearing dust grains from circumpulsar disks. We show that dust particles orbiting a neutron star lose angular momentum due to the ram pressure of the interstellar medium, which is approximately 104 times stronger for pulsars than for normal stars because of their high space velocity. For a pulsar moving at 100 km/s through an ambient medium with number density n approximately 1/cu cm, dust grains 0.1 micrometer(s) in size spiral into the star in approximately 106 years. This mechanism is more effective at clearing grains than the Poynting-Robertson effect and may limit the detectability of disks around old neutron stars.
Chandler Claire J.
Phillips Adrienne J.
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