Spitzer Space Telescope - General Observer Proposal #60197


Detecting the remnant of a hot disk that is gone

Principal Investigator: Zhongxiang Wang
           Institution: McGill University

     Technical Contact: Zhongxiang Wang, McGill University

Co-Investigators: 
Anne Archibald, McGill                                                
Victoria Kaspi, McGill                                                
Ingrid Stairs, UBC                                                    

Science Category: compact objects 
 Observing Modes: IRAC Post-Cryo Mapping
  Hours Approved: 0.7 

Abstract:
An hot disk surrounding a millisecond radio pulsar in a binary system is
identified in optical spectroscopic observations. The disk existed in a year and
then disappeared before 2003 January. The disappearance of the disk was likely
caused by its interaction with the radio pulsar. Different scenarios have been
suggested for the interaction between pulsars and their disks. This binary
system thus serves as a rare case that we would like to study in detail, helping
our understanding of the interaction. Here we propose Spitzer/IRAC imaging of
the binary system. We seek to detect excess emission from the remnant of the
disk. A detection would suggest that the disk was pushed away and the remnant
would exist as a circumbinary disk. For a non-detection, we would set a
constraint on the existence of any dust material in the system, helping our
near-future studies of this rare system at optical and infrared wavelengths.