Discovery of a Redback Millisecond Pulsar Candidate: 3FGL J0212.1+5320

TL;DR

This study identifies 3FGL J0212.1+5320 as a promising redback millisecond pulsar candidate with a long orbital period, based on multi-wavelength observations indicating a binary system with a low-mass companion and gamma-ray pulsar characteristics.

Contribution

First multi-wavelength characterization of 3FGL J0212.1+5320 as a potential redback millisecond pulsar with a notably long orbital period.

Findings

Detected X-ray source within Fermi error ellipse.

Optical/infrared modulation indicates a 20.87-hour orbit.

Gamma-ray properties match millisecond pulsar signatures.

Abstract

We present a multi-wavelength study of the unidentified Fermi object, 3FGL J0212.1+5320. Within the 95% error ellipse, Chandra detects a bright X-ray source (i.e., F(0.5-7keV) = 1.4e-12 erg/cm^2/s), which has a low-mass optical counterpart (M < 0.4 Msun and T ~ 6000 K). A clear ellipsoidal modulation is shown in optical/infrared at 20.87 hours. The gamma-ray properties of 3FGL J0212.1+5320 are all consistent with that of a millisecond pulsar, suggesting that it is a gamma-ray redback millisecond pulsar binary with a low-mass companion filling > 64% of the Roche-lobe. If confirmed, it will be a redback binary with one of the longest orbital periods known. Spectroscopic data taken in 2015 from the Lijiang observatory show no evidence of strong emission lines, revealing that the accretion is currently inactive (the rotation-powered pulsar state). This is consistent with the low X-ray luminosities (Lx ~ 10^32 erg/s) and the possible X-ray modulation seen by Chandra and Swift. Considering that the X-ray luminosity and the high X-ray-to-gamma-ray flux ratio (8%) are both comparable to that of the two known gamma-ray transitional millisecond pulsars, we suspect that 3FGL J0212.1+5320 could be a potential target to search for future transition to the accretion active state.