2004/10/20 by Eric M. Splaver, David J. Nice, I. H. Stairs +5 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/426804
published as Astrophys.J. 620 (2005) 405-415 · 12 pages, Accepted by ApJ
arxiv created 2004/10/20 · openalex publication_date 2005/02/09 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We report on 12 years of observations of PSR J1713+0747, a pulsar in a 68 day orbit with a white dwarf. Pulse times of arrival were measured with uncertainties as small as 200 ns. The timing data yielded measurements of the relativistic Shapiro delay, perturbations of pulsar orbital elements due to secular and annual motion of the Earth, and the pulsar's parallax, as well as pulse spin-down, astrometric, and Keplerian measurements. The observations constrain the masses of the pulsar and secondary star to be m 1 = 1.3 ± 0.2 M ☉ and m 2 = 0.28 ± 0.03 M ☉ , respectively (68% confidence). Combining the theoretical orbital period-core mass relation with the observational constraints yields a somewhat higher pulsar mass, m 1 = 1.53 M ☉ . The parallax is π = 0.89 ± 0.08 mas, corresponding to a distance of 1.1 ± 0.1 kpc; the precision of the parallax measurement is limited by uncertainties in the electron content of the solar wind. The transverse velocity is unusually small, 33 ± 3 km s -1 . We find significant timing noise on timescales of several years, but no more than expected by extrapolating timing noise statistics from the slow pulsar population. With the orientation of the binary orbit fully measured, we are able to improve on previous tests of equivalence principle violations.