NRAO/Socorro Colloquium Series:

Scott Ransom

NRAO


Hittin' the Pulsar Jackpot in Terzan 5 with the GBT


Terzan 5 is a dense globular cluster near the Galactic center that has been predicted for >15 years to contain tens or even hundreds of millisecond pulsars (MSPs). However, deep searches with the Parkes and Lovell telescopes had only managed to uncover 3 pulsars over the same period of time. In the summer and fall of 2004, several observations at 2 GHz with the Green Bank Telescope significantly changed all that with the discovery of (at least) 21 new MSPs, most of which are in binary systems. Several of these binaries are truly unique and/or exotic systems, and two them provide strong evidence for the existence of "massive" neutron stars (>1.6 Msun). In this talk I'll discuss the reasons behind the project, the observation itself, and some of the implications of the new discoveries.






Friday, 11 February 2005
11:00am

Array Operations Center Auditorium

Local Host: Walter Brisken