Binary Pulsar Orbital periods.

[teroenza]

Hello,
I am doing a very brief presentation for school on gravitational radiation and wanted to include a figure for the orbital periods of binary pulsars. I can find the rotation rates of individual pulsars on Google but can't find a figure for orbital periods of binaries. This does not have to be exact, even order of magnitudes would work. I thought it would be interesting to say something along the lines of, "imagine these super dense objects, orbiting each other at rates of ~ XXXX."

Thank you

 

[Nabeshin]

Hello,
I am doing a very brief presentation for school on gravitational radiation and wanted to include a figure for the orbital periods of binary pulsars. I can find the rotation rates of individual pulsars on Google but can't find a figure for orbital periods of binaries. This does not have to be exact, even order of magnitudes would work. I thought it would be interesting to say something along the lines of, "imagine these super dense objects, orbiting each other at rates of ~ XXXX."

Thank you

From hours to day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSR_B1913+16

 

[phyzguy]

I just Googled 'list of known binary pulsars' and quickly found this. Most are hours to days as Nabeshin said.

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/relativity/binpulstable.html

 

[teroenza]

Great, thank you both.

 

[pmacias]

for your question. Binary pulsars are fascinating objects that have provided important insights into the nature of gravity and the behavior of matter under extreme conditions. The orbital periods of binary pulsars can vary greatly depending on the specific system, but they typically range from a few hours to a few days. For example, the famous binary pulsar PSR B1913+16 has an orbital period of 7.75 hours, while PSR J0737-3039 has a much shorter period of just 2.4 hours.

These orbital periods are incredibly fast, especially when considering that the two objects are super dense neutron stars, each with a mass equivalent to about 1.4 times that of our sun. The high rotation rates of these pulsars, combined with their close proximity to each other, make them ideal sources for studying the effects of gravitational radiation.

Gravitational radiation, first predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, is a type of radiation that is emitted by objects with strong gravitational fields, such as binary pulsars. As these pulsars orbit each other, they emit gravitational waves that carry away energy and cause their orbits to decay over time. This has been observed in the case of PSR B1913+16, where the orbital period is decreasing at a rate of 76 microseconds per year, in agreement with Einstein's predictions.

So, to answer your question, the orbital periods of binary pulsars can range from a few hours to a few days, with some systems having even shorter periods. These incredibly fast orbital rates, combined with the effects of gravitational radiation, make binary pulsars important objects for studying the fundamental nature of gravity and the behavior of matter in extreme environments.