Keywords

Using archival Chandra observations with a total effective exposure of 734 ks, we derive an updated catalog of point sources in the massive globular cluster (GC) Terzan 5. Our catalog covers an area of 58.1 arcmin² (R ≤ 43) with 489 X-ray sources, and more than 75% of these sources are first detected in this cluster. We find significant dips in the radial distribution profiles of X-ray sources in Terzan 5, with the projected distance and width of the distribution dips for bright (L_X ≳ 9.5 × 10³⁰ erg s⁻¹) X-ray sources larger than those of the faint (L_X ≲ 9.5 × 10³⁰ erg s⁻¹) sources. By fitting the radial distribution of the X-ray sources with a "generalized King model," we estimated an average mass of 1.48 ± 0.11 and 1.27 ± 0.13 M_⊙ for the bright and faint X-ray sources, respectively. These results are in agreement with that observed in 47 Tuc, which may suggest a universal mass segregation effect for X-ray sources in GCs. Compared with 47 Tuc, we show that the two-body relaxation timescale of Terzan 5 is much smaller, but its dynamical age is significantly younger than 47 Tuc. These features suggest that the evolution of Terzan 5 is not purely driven by two-body relaxation, and the tidal stripping effect also plays an important role in accelerating the dynamical evolution of this cluster.

Terzan 5 is the only Galactic globular cluster that has plausibly been detected at very high energies by the High Energy Stereoscopic System. It has an unexpectedly asymmetric very high energy morphology that is offset from the cluster center, in addition to a large-scale, offset radio structure and compact diffuse X-ray emission associated with this cluster. We present new data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope on this source. We model the updated broadband spectral energy distribution, attributing this to cumulative pulsed emission from a population of embedded millisecond pulsars, as well as unpulsed emission from the interaction of their leptonic winds with the ambient magnetic and soft-photon fields. In particular, our model invokes unpulsed synchrotron and inverse Compton components to model the radio and TeV data and cumulative pulsed curvature radiation to fit the Fermi data, and it explains the hard Chandra X-ray spectrum via a "new" cumulative synchrotron component from electron–positron pairs within the pulsar magnetospheres that has not been implemented before. We find reasonable spectral fits for plausible model parameters. We also derive constraints on the millisecond pulsar luminosity function using the diffuse X-ray data and the Chandra sensitivity. Future higher-quality spectral and spatial data will help discriminate between competing scenarios (such as dark matter annihilation, white dwarf winds, or hadronic interactions) proposed for the broadband emission, as well as constraining degenerate model parameters.

Transitional millisecond pulsars are accreting millisecond pulsars that switch between accreting X-ray binary and millisecond radio pulsar states. Only a handful of these objects have been identified so far. Terzan 5 CX1 is a variable hard-X-ray source in the globular cluster Terzan 5. In this paper, we identify a radio counterpart to CX1 in deep Very Large Array radio continuum data. Chandra observations over the last 14 years indicate that CX1 shows two brightness states: in 2003 and 2016 the source was the brightest X-ray source in the cluster (at L_X ∼ 10³³ erg s⁻¹), while in many intermediate observations, its luminosity was almost an order of magnitude lower. We analyze all available X-ray data of CX1, showing that the two states are consistent with the spectral and variability properties observed for the X-ray active and radio pulsar states of known transitional millisecond pulsars. Finally, we discuss the prospects for the detection of CX1 as a radio pulsar in existing timing data.

We report on the discovery of three new millisecond pulsars (MSPs; namely J1748−2446aj, J1748−2446ak, and J1748−2446al) in the inner regions of the dense stellar system Terzan 5. These pulsars have been discovered thanks to a method, alternative to the classical search routines, that exploited the large set of archival observations of Terzan 5 acquired with the Green Bank Telescope over five years (from 2010 to 2015). This technique allowed the analysis of stacked power spectra obtained by combining ∼206 hr of observation. J1748−2446aj has a spin period of ∼2.96 ms, J1748−2446ak of ∼1.89 ms (thus it is the fourth fastest pulsar in the cluster) and J1748−2446al of ∼5.95 ms. All three MSPs are isolated, and currently we have timing solutions only for J1748−2446aj and J1748−2446ak. For these two systems, we evaluated the contribution to the measured spin-down rate of the acceleration due to the cluster potential field, thus estimating the intrinsic spin-down rates, which are in agreement with those typically measured for MSPs in globular clusters (GCs). Our results increase the number of pulsars known in Terzan 5 to 37, which now hosts 25% of the entire pulsar population identified, so far, in GCs.

Over the past decade, the discovery of three unique stellar populations and a large number of confirmed pulsars within the globular cluster Terzan 5 has raised questions over its classification. Using the long-term radio pulsar timing of $36$ ms pulsars in the cluster core, we provide new measurements of key physical properties of the system. As Terzan 5 is located within the galactic bulge, stellar crowding and reddening make optical and near-infrared observations difficult. Pulsar accelerations, however, allow us to study the intrinsic characteristics of the cluster independent of reddening and stellar crowding and probe the mass density profile without needing to quantify the mass-to-light ratio. Relating the spin and orbital periods of each pulsar to the acceleration predicted by a King model, we find a core density of ${1.58}_{-0.13}^{+0.13}$ × 10⁶ ${M}_{\odot }$ pc⁻³, a core radius of ${0.16}_{-0.01}^{+0.01}$ pc, a pulsar density profile of $n\propto {r}^{-{3.14}_{-0.53}^{+0.52}}$, and a total mass of ${M}_{{\rm{T}}}$(${R}_{\perp }\lt 1.0$ pc) ≃ 3.0 × 10⁵ ${M}_{\odot }$, assuming a cluster distance of 5.9 kpc. Using this information, we argue against Terzan 5 being a disrupted dwarf galaxy and discuss the possibility of it being a fragment of the Milky Way's proto-bulge. We also discuss whether low-mass pulsars were formed via electron-capture supernovae or exist in a core full of heavy white dwarfs and hard binaries. Finally, we provide an upper limit for the mass of a possible black hole at the core of the cluster of ${M}_{\mathrm{BH}}\simeq 3\times {10}^{4}\,{M}_{\odot }$.

By exploiting two sets of high-resolution images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys/Wide Field Channel over a baseline of ∼10 years, we have measured relative proper motions (PMs) of ∼70,000 stars in the stellar system Terzan 5. The results confirm the membership of the three subpopulations with different iron abundances discovered in the system. The orbit of the system has been derived from a first estimate of its absolute PM, obtained by using bulge stars as a reference. The results of the integration of this orbit within an axisymmetric Galactic model exclude any external accretion origin for this cluster. Terzan 5 is known to have chemistry similar to the Galactic bulge; our findings support a kinematic link between the cluster and the bulge, further strengthening the possibility that Terzan 5 is the fossil remnant of one of the pristine clumps that originated the bulge.

We report on the optical identification of the neutron star burster EXO 1745-248 in Terzan 5. The identification was performed by exploiting Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys images acquired in Director's Discretionary Time shortly after (approximately one month) the Swift detection of the X-ray burst. The comparison between these images and previous archival data revealed the presence of a star that is currently brightened by ∼3 mag, consistent with expectations during an X-ray outburst. The centroid of this object well agrees with the position, in the archival images, of a star located in the turn-off/sub-giant-branch region of Terzan 5. This supports the scenario that the companion should have recently filled its Roche Lobe. Such a system represents the prenatal stage of a millisecond pulsar, an evolutionary phase during which heavy mass accretion on the compact object occurs, thus producing X-ray outbursts and re-accelerating the neutron star.

We present new determinations of the iron abundance for 220 stars belonging to the stellar system Terzan 5 in the Galactic bulge. The spectra have been acquired with FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory and DEIMOS at the Keck II Telescope. This is by far the largest spectroscopic sample of stars ever observed in this stellar system. From this data set, a subsample of targets with spectra unaffected by TiO bands was extracted and statistically decontaminated from field stars. Once combined with 34 additional stars previously published by our group, a total sample of 135 member stars covering the entire radial extent of the system has been used to determine the metallicity distribution function of Terzan 5. The iron distribution clearly shows three peaks: a super-solar component at [Fe/H] ≃ 0.25 dex, accounting for ∼29% of the sample, a dominant sub-solar population at [Fe/H] ≃ −0.30 dex, corresponding to ∼62% of the total, and a minor (6%) metal-poor component at [Fe/H] ≃ −0.8 dex. Such a broad, multi-modal metallicity distribution demonstrates that Terzan 5 is not a genuine globular cluster but the remnant of a much more complex stellar system.

We report and study the outburst of a new transient X-ray binary (XRB) in Terzan 5, the third detected in this globular cluster, Swift J174805.3-244637 or Terzan 5 X-3. We find clear spectral hardening in Swift/XRT data during the outburst rise to the hard state, thanks to our early coverage (starting at L_X ∼ 4 × 10³⁴ erg s⁻¹) of the outburst. This hardening appears to be due to the decline in relative strength of a soft thermal component from the surface of the neutron star (NS) during the rise. We identify a Type I X-ray burst in Swift/XRT data with a long (16 s) decay time, indicative of hydrogen burning on the surface of the NS. We use Swift/BAT, MAXI/GSC, Chandra/ACIS, and Swift/XRT data to study the spectral changes during the outburst, identifying a clear hard-to-soft state transition. We use a Chandra/ACIS observation during outburst to identify the transient's position. Seven archival Chandra/ACIS observations show evidence for variations in Terzan 5 X-3's nonthermal component but not the thermal component during quiescence. The inferred long-term time-averaged mass accretion rate, from the quiescent thermal luminosity, suggests that if this outburst is typical and only slow cooling processes are active in the NS core, such outbursts should recur every ∼10 yr.

The potentially large number of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in globular cluster (GC) cores makes these parent objects ideal laboratories for studying the collective properties of an ensemble of MSPs. Such a population is expected to radiate several spectral components in the radio through γ-ray waveband. First, pulsed emission is expected via curvature and synchrotron radiation (CR and SR) and possibly even via inverse Compton (IC) scattering inside the pulsar magnetospheres. Second, unpulsed emission should transpire through the continuous injection of relativistic leptons by the MSPs into the ambient region, which in turn produce SR and IC emission when they encounter the cluster magnetic field, as well as several background photon components. In this paper we continue to develop the MSP scenario for explaining the multi-wavelength properties of GCs by considering the entire modeling chain, including the full transport equation, refined emissivities of stellar and Galactic background photons, integration of the flux along the line of sight, and comparison with observations. As an illustration, we apply the model to Terzan 5, where we can reasonably fit both the (line-of-sight-integrated) X-ray surface flux and spectral energy density data, using the first to constrain the leptonic diffusion coefficient within the GC. We lastly discuss possible future extensions to and applications of this maturing model.