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Exploring Pulsars: Neutron Stars in Motion

Delve into the study of pulsars, rapidly rotating neutron stars, using NASA data to calculate rotation periods, orbits, and luminosity, shedding light on these astronomical clocks in the sky.

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Exploring Pulsars: Neutron Stars in Motion

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  1. Pulsars:Astronomical Clocks In The Sky Team J: Ashley Randall Ashton Butts Priscilla Garcia Jessica Wilkinson Olivia Arrington

  2. Introduction • Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars • A neutron star is only ten kilometers in size • They are created in a supernova explosion near the end of a star’s life • Pulsars spin at quick speeds ranging from milliseconds to seconds • Single pulsars spin about once every second, and pulsars in binary systems spin thousands of times every second

  3. Purpose • To learn how to calculate the rotation period of a pulsar • To calculate the size of the pulsar’s orbit • To calculate the luminosity of the pulsar

  4. Methods • Used NASA observations collected with the Chandra X-ray telescope • Used the ds9 computer program to analyze the observations

  5. Materials • DS9 computer program written by NASA • DS9 instruction handbook • Textbook: Horizons: Exploring the Universe by Michael A. Seeds • Lecture Notes: Dr. M. Richards • Chandra X-rayTelescope archives: http://chandra.harvard.edu/ • NASA Chandra Education webpage http://chandra-ed.harvard.edu/activities.html

  6. Procedures • Load the light curve data from the Chandra archives • Light Curve: how light from the pulsar changes with time • We measured the period directly from the light curve • Calculated the average period and standard deviation for the group.

  7. Procedures • The power spectrum finds any patterns in the light curve • We calculated the period from the frequency: Period = 1 . Frequency

  8. Results • Objects studied: Cen X-3, GK Per, Vela pulsar GK Per Cen X-3 Star size = 10 km Rotation period = 4.807 sec Star size = 6000 km Rotation period = 350.87 sec

  9. Results • When we expand the power spectrum for Cen X-3, the peak looks broad • The light from the pulsar is blue-shifted and red-shifted because the pulsar is moving around another object • Measure the spin period and orbital period of Cen X-3 Pulsar moving away from us Pulsar moving towards us

  10. Results Luminosity = 4 distance2 xflux

  11. Conclusions/ Further Research • Astronomical clocks are found in many places in the sky. • We studied the light curves of three astronomical clocks and measured their properties. • We calculated spin periods and confirmed that pulsars spin at very high speeds. They have periods from seconds to milliseconds. • Future work:

  12. Acknowledgements… • Eberly College Of Science • Dr. Daniel Larson, Dean of Eberly College of Science • Dr. Mercedes Richards • Ms. Jody Markley • Mrs. Annie Holmes • Mr. Craig Keiser • Ms. Joanne Nash • UBMS Staff

  13. Any Questions??

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