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Abstract We present 15 yr of Nançay and Green Bank radio telescope timing observations for PSR J1231−1411. This millisecond pulsar is a primary science target for the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer telescope (NICER, which discovered its X-ray pulsations), has accumulated near-continuousγ-ray data since the Fermi-Large Area Telescope’s launch, and has been studied extensively with the Green Bank and Nançay radio telescopes. We have undertaken a campaign with the Green Bank Telescope targeting specific orbital phases designed to improve our constraint on the pulsar’s mass through the detection of a relativistic Shapiro delay. Both frequentist and Bayesian techniques—the latter incorporating priors from white dwarf binary evolution models—are applied to 15 yr of radio observations, yielding relatively weak constraints on the companion and pulsar masses of $0.23_{-0.06}^{+0.09}$M_⊙and $1.87_{-0.67}^{+1.11}$M_⊙, respectively (68.3% CI from Bayesian fits); however, the orbital inclination is measured to better relative precision ( $79.80_{-4.70}^{+3.47}$°). Restricting the maximum allowed pulsar mass to 3M_⊙improves the constraint and lowers the measured mass to $1.71_{-0.56}^{+0.70}$M_⊙. A fully generalized Bayesian fit that simultaneously samples the noise and timing models yields a pulsar mass in close agreement with this value. While our radio-derived inclination result has informed recent NICER X-ray studies of J1231−1411, the lessons learned from this troublesome pulsar will also bolster future high-precision mass measurement campaigns and resulting constraints on the neutron star interior equation of state. 

We present the discovery of PSR J1947–1120, a new huntsman millisecond pulsar with a red giant companion star in a 10.3 day orbit. This pulsar was found via optical, X-ray, and radio follow-up of the previously unassociated gamma-ray source 4FGL J1947.6–1121. PSR J1947–1120 is the second confirmed pulsar in the huntsman class and establishes this as a bona fide subclass of millisecond pulsars. We use MESA models to show that huntsman pulsars can be naturally explained as neutron star binaries whose secondaries are currently in the “red bump” region of the red giant branch, temporarily underfilling their Roche lobes and hence halting mass transfer. Huntsman pulsars offer a new view of the formation of typical millisecond pulsars, allowing novel constraints on the efficiency of mass transfer and recycling at an intermediate stage in the process. 

Abstract Accurate pulsar astrometric estimates are essential to almost all high-precision pulsar timing experiments. Traditional pulsar timing techniques refine these estimates by including them as free parameters when fitting a model to observed pulse time-of-arrival measurements. However, reliable submilliarcsecond astrometric estimations require years of observations. Even then, power from red noise can be inadvertently absorbed into astrometric parameter fits. This effect biases the resulting estimates and reduces the sensitivity to red noise processes, including gravitational waves (GWs). In this work, we seek to mitigate these shortcomings by using pulsar astrometric estimates derived from very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) as priors for the timing fit. First, we used VLBI and timing astrometric estimates of 18 millisecond pulsars to calibrate a rotation between the reference frames used in timing and VLBI, with a precision of ∼0.7 mas. Through this frame tie, we combined timing- and VLBI-based probabilities to obtain a maximum-posterior astrometric solution. We found offsets between our results and the timing-based astrometric solutions, which, if real, would lead to the absorption of spectral power at the frequencies of interest for single-source GW searches. However, we do not find significant power absorption due to astrometric fitting at the low-frequency domain of the GW background. 

Abstract PINTis a pure-Python framework for high-precision pulsar timing developed on top of widely used and well-tested Python libraries, supporting both interactive and programmatic data analysis workflows. We present a new frequentist framework withinPINTto characterize the single-pulsar noise processes present in pulsar timing data sets. This framework enables parameter estimation for both uncorrelated and correlated noise processes, as well as model comparison between different timing and noise models in a computationally inexpensive way. We demonstrate the efficacy of the new framework by applying it to simulated data sets as well as a real data set of PSR B1855+09. We also describe the new features implemented inPINTsince it was first described in the literature. 

Abstract We present the discovery of a new optical/X-ray source likely associated with the Fermi γ -ray source 4FGL J1408.6–2917. Its high-amplitude periodic optical variability, large spectroscopic radial-velocity semiamplitude, evidence for optical emission lines and flaring, and X-ray properties together imply the source is probably a new black widow millisecond pulsar binary. We compile the properties of the 41 confirmed and suspected field black widows, finding a median secondary mass of 0.027 ± 0.003 M ⊙ . Considered jointly with the more massive redback millisecond pulsar binaries, we find that the “spider” companion mass distribution remains strongly bimodal, with essentially zero systems having companion masses of between ∼0.07 and 0.1 M ⊙ . X-ray emission from black widows is typically softer and less luminous than in redbacks, consistent with less efficient particle acceleration in the intrabinary shock in black widows, excepting a few systems that appear to have more efficient “redback-like” shocks. Together black widows and redbacks dominate the census of the fastest spinning field millisecond pulsars in binaries with known companion types, making up ≳80% of systems with P spin < 2 ms. Similar to redbacks, the neutron star masses in black widows appear on average significantly larger than the canonical 1.4 M ⊙ , and many of the highest-mass neutron stars claimed to date are black widows with M NS ≳ 2.1 M ⊙ . Both of these observations are consistent with an evolutionary picture where spider millisecond pulsars emerge from short orbital period progenitors that had a lengthy period of mass transfer initiated while the companion was on the main sequence, leading to fast spins and high masses. 

Abstract Free-floating objects (FFOs) in interstellar space—rogue planets, brown dwarfs, and large asteroids that are not gravitationally bound to any star—are expected to be ubiquitous throughout the Milky Way. Recent microlensing surveys have discovered several free-floating planets that are not bound to any known stellar systems. Additionally, three interstellar objects, namely 1I/’Oumuamua, 2I/Borisov, and 3I/ATLAS, have been detected passing through our solar system on hyperbolic trajectories. In this work, we search for FFOs on hyperbolic orbits that pass near millisecond pulsars (MSPs), where their gravitational influence can induce detectable perturbations in pulse arrival times. Using the NANOGrav 15 yr narrow band dataset, which contains high-precision timing data for 68 MSPs, we conduct a search for such hyperbolic scattering events between FFOs and pulsars. Although no statistically significant events were detected, this nondetection enables us to place upper limits (ULs) on the number density of FFOs as a function of their mass within our local region of the Galaxy. For example, the UL on the number density for Jupiter-mass FFOs (∼10^−2.5–10^−3.5M_⊙) obtained from different pulsars ranges from 5.25 × 10⁶pc⁻³to 5.37 × 10⁹pc⁻³, while the UL calculated by combining results from all the pulsars is 6.03 × 10⁵pc⁻³. These results represent the first constraints on FFO population derived from pulsar timing data. 

Abstract Based on the rate of change of its orbital period, PSR J2043+1711 has a substantial peculiar acceleration of 3.5 ± 0.8 mm s^–1yr^–1, which deviates from the acceleration predicted by equilibrium Milky Way (MW) models at a 4σlevel. The magnitude of the peculiar acceleration is too large to be explained by disequilibrium effects of the MW interacting with orbiting dwarf galaxies (∼1 mm s^–1yr^–1), and too small to be caused by period variations due to the pulsar being a redback. We identify and examine two plausible causes for the anomalous acceleration: a stellar flyby, and a long-period orbital companion. We identify a main-sequence star in Gaia DR3 and Pan-STARRS DR2 with the correct mass, distance, and on-sky position to potentially explain the observed peculiar acceleration. However, the star and the pulsar system have substantially different proper motions, indicating that they are not gravitationally bound. However, it is possible that this is an unrelated star that just happens to be located near J2043+1711 along our line of sight (chance probability of 1.6%). Therefore, we also constrain possible orbital parameters for a circumbinary companion in a hierarchical triple system with J2043+1711; the changes in the spindown rate of the pulsar are consistent with an outer object that has an orbital period of 60 kyr, a companion mass of 0.3M_⊙(indicative of a white dwarf or low-mass star), and a semimajor axis of 1900 au. Continued timing and/or future faint optical observations of J2043+1711 may eventually allow us to differentiate between these scenarios. 

Abstract Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer has a comparatively low background rate, but it is highly variable, and its spectrum must be predicted using measurements unaffected by the science target. We describe an empirical, three-parameter model based on observations of seven pointing directions that are void of detectable sources. Two model parameters track different types of background events, while the third is used to predict a low-energy excess tied to observations conducted in sunlight. An examination of 3556 good time intervals (GTIs), averaging 570 s, yields a median rate (0.4–12 keV; 50 detectors) of 0.87 c s −1 , but in 5% (1%) of cases, the rate exceeds 10 (300) c s −1 . Model residuals persist at 20%–30% of the initial rate for the brightest GTIs, implying one or more missing model parameters. Filtering criteria are given to flag GTIs likely to have unsatisfactory background predictions. With such filtering, we estimate a detection limit, 1.20 c s −1 (3 σ , single GTI) at 0.4–12 keV, equivalent to 3.6 × 10 −12 erg cm −2 s −1 for a Crab-like spectrum. The corresponding limit for soft X-ray sources is 0.51 c s −1 at 0.3–2.0 keV, or 4.3 × 10 −13 erg cm −2 s −1 for a 100 eV blackbody. These limits would be four times lower if exploratory GTIs accumulate 10 ks of data after filtering at the level prescribed for faint sources. Such filtering selects background GTIs 85% of the time. An application of the model to a 1 s timescale makes it possible to distinguish source flares from possible surges in the background. 

Abstract Pulse profile stability is a central assumption of standard pulsar timing methods. Thus, it is important for pulsar timing array experiments such as the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) to account for any pulse profile variability present in their data sets. We show that in the NANOGrav 15 yr data set, the integrated pulse profile of PSR J1022+1001 as seen by the Arecibo radio telescope at 430, 1380, and 2030 MHz varies considerably in its shape from observation to observation. We investigate the possibility that this is due to the “ideal feed assumption” (IFA), on which NANOGrav’s routine polarization calibration procedure relies. PSR J1022+1001 is  ∼90% polarized in one pulse profile component, and also has significant levels of circular polarization. Time-dependent deviations in the feed’s polarimetric response (PR) could cause mixing between the intensityIand the other Stokes parameters, leading to the observed variability. We calibrate the PR using a mixture of measurement equation modeling and measurement equation template matching techniques. The resulting profiles are no less variable than those calibrated using the IFA method, nor do they provide an improvement in the timing quality of this pulsar. We observe the pulse shape in 25 MHz bandwidths to vary consistently across the band, which cannot be explained by interstellar scintillation in combination with profile evolution with frequency. Instead, we favor phenomena intrinsic to the pulsar as the cause.