Green Bank Telescope Measurement of the Systemic Velocity of the Double Pulsar Binary J0737-3039 and Implications for Its Formation

S. M. Ransom, V. M. Kaspi, R. Ramachandran, P. Demorest, D. C. Backer, E. D. Pfahl, F. D. Ghigo, D. L. Kaplan
2004 Astrophysical Journal  
We report on the measurement at 820- and 1400-MHz of orbital modulation of the diffractive scintillation timescale from pulsar A in the double-pulsar system J0737-3039 using the Green Bank Telescope. Fits to this modulation determine the systemic velocity in the plane of the sky to be V_iss ~ 140.9 +/- 6.2 km/s. The parallel and perpendicular components of this velocity with respect to the line of nodes of the pulsar's orbit are V_plane ~ 96.0 +/- 3.7 km/s and V_perp ~ 103.1 +/- 7.7 km/s
more » ... ively. The large V_perp implies that pulsar B was born with a kick speed of >~ 100 km/s. Future VLBA determination of the angular proper motion in conjunction with improved V_iss measurements should provide a precise distance to the system. Using high-precision timing data and the V_iss model, we estimate a best-fit orbital inclination of i = 88.7 +/- 0.9 deg.
doi:10.1086/422911 fatcat:rfie2ynndfdntlcmynjocqctiq