GeV Gamma-ray Emission from the Binary PSR B1259-63/SS2883 During the 2010 Periastron Passage

TL;DR

This paper reports the detection of GeV gamma-ray emission from the binary system PSR B1259-63/SS2883 during its 2010 periastron passage, providing new insights into high-energy processes in such systems.

Contribution

First detection of GeV gamma-ray emission from PSR B1259-63/SS2883 during periastron with Fermi-LAT, expanding understanding of high-energy emissions in binary pulsar systems.

Findings

Detected GeV gamma-ray emission during 2010 periastron

Observed variability in gamma-ray emission around periastron

Contributes to understanding pulsar wind and stellar disk interactions

Abstract

PSR B1259-63/SS2883 is a binary system which consists of a 48-ms radio pulsar and a massive star in a highly eccentric orbit with a period of about 3.4 years. Non-pulsed and non-thermal emissions from this binary have been reported in the radio, X-ray and TeV gamma-ray energy ranges. Light curves in the radio and X-ray bands showed characteristic double-peaked features which can be attibuted to the interactions of the pulsar wind and the Be disk during the crossings by the pulsar. The TeV light curves around periastron differ between 2004 and 2007 observations, and the feature is not conclusive. We report a detection of GeV gamma-ray emission around the periastron passage in December 2010 with Fermi-LAT.