An eclipsing millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster Terzan 5

Abstract

WE HAVE discovered an eclipsing binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster Terzan 5. This, the second known eclipsing binary pulsar after PSR1957 + 20, has a pulse period of 11.56 ms and a very short orbital period of 1.8 hours. In contrast to PSR1957 + 20, where the eclipses occupy about 10 per cent of the orbital period1, the eclipse duration in this pulsar is very variable and never less than one-third of the orbital period. The pulsar is in a circular orbit of radius 0.11 light seconds, which implies a minimum companion mass of 0.089 solar masses, about four times the companion mass of PSR1957 + 20. Timing observations suggest an identification of the pulsar with a variable continuum source locate about 30 arcsec west of the cluster centre. These observations and the variable eclipse duration show that the eclipse is due to absorption or scattering in a tenuous wind which flows from the companion star. We have also detected a second pulsar in the direction of Terzan 5. This pulsar, which has a period of 442 ms,may also be a cluster member, but is more likely to be a foreground object.