Radio timing and optical photometry of the black widow system PSR J1518+0204C in the globular cluster M5

TL;DR

This study combines radio timing and optical photometry to identify and analyze the optical companion of a black widow pulsar in a globular cluster, revealing its variability and possible heating effects.

Contribution

First identification of an optical companion to a black widow pulsar within a globular cluster using combined radio and optical data.

Findings

Optical companion is a faint, variable star near the pulsar's position.

Optical light curve shows modulation consistent with pulsar orbital phase.

Evidence suggests pulsar wind heating of the companion star.

Abstract

We report on the determination of astrometric, spin and orbital parameters for PSR J1518+0204C, a "black widow" binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster M5. The accurate position and orbital parameters obtained from radio timing allowed us to search for the optical companion. By using WFC3/HST images we identified a very faint variable star (m_F390W > 24.8, m_F606W > 24.3, m_F814W > 23.1) located at only 0.25" from the pulsar's timing position. Due to its strong variability, this star is visible only in a sub-sample of images. However, the light curve obtained folding the available data with the orbital parameters of the pulsar shows a maximum at the pulsar inferior conjunction and a possible minimum at the pulsar superior conjunction. Furthermore, the shape of the optical modulation indicates a heating process possibly due to the pulsar wind. This is the first identification of an optical companion to a black widow pulsar in the dense stellar environment of a globular cluster.