Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,234 studies31 sourcesUpdated 19 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BYThe Astrophysical Journal

A NICER View of PSR J0030+0451: Updated Constraints from 6 yr of NICER Observations

  • Yves Kini1
  • Lucien Mauviard2,3
  • Tuomo Salmi4
  • Anna L. Watts1
  • Sébastien Guillot2,3
  • Bas Dorsman1
  • Devarshi Choudhury1
  • Denis González–Caniulef2,3
  • Mariska Hoogkamer1
  • Daniela Huppenkothen1
  • Christine Kazantsev2,3
  • Matthew T. Kerr5
4 more authors
  • S. Nissanke6,7,1,8
  • Paul S. Ray5
  • Pierre Stammler2,3
  • S. Vinciguerra9
9 affiliations
  1. 1University of Amsterdam
  2. 2IRAP
  3. 3Université de Toulouse
  4. 4University of Helsinki
  5. 5Space Science Division
  6. 6Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY
  7. 7Deutsches Zentrum für Astrophysik (DZA)
  8. 8Universität Potsdam
  9. 9Independent Researcher
Open at sourceDOICite

Abstract

Pulse-profile modeling of rotation-powered millisecond pulsars targeted by NICER has enabled mass–radius constraints of several neutron star sources, with implications for the dense-matter equation of state. For the bright isolated pulsar PSR J0030+0451, the inferred mass and radius were previously found to depend strongly on the assumed hot-spot model. These hot-spot models yielded different mass–radius constraints, with the statistically preferred model exhibiting some mild tension with results inferred for PSR J0437−4715, PSR J0614−3329, and GW170817. We present an updated pulse-profile analysis of PSR J0030+0451 using new NICER observations obtained between 2017 July to 2023 January, increasing the number of X-ray counts by about 50% compared to previous analyses. We jointly analyze the NICER data with archival XMM-Newton observations to better constrain the source spectrum and background. The new analysis, using more conservative nested-sampling settings together with the new NICER observations, significantly reduces the discrepancy between the hot-spot models. The inferred mass and radius are M = 1.4 3 − 0.17 + 0.20 M ⊙ and R eq = 12.6 8 − 1.04 + 1.31 km (68% credible intervals), reducing the tension with the results from other sources. In addition, the inferred hot-spot configurations suggest the presence of intraspot temperature gradients.

Related

  1. Phase-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the Vela pulsar with NICER observations
    E. Zubieta, F. García, S. del Palacio +2
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsSolar & stellar physicsCrossref
  2. NICER constraints on low density matching and high density continuation in neutron star equations of state
    Federico Nola
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textHigh-energy astrophysicsNuclear physicsarXiv
  3. Broad-band spectral-timing: simultaneous NICER and HXMT observations reveal an anticorrelation between the softest and hardest X-ray fluxes in MAXI J1820+070
    Niek Bollemeijer, Phil Uttley, Bei You
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textHigh-energy astrophysicsarXiv
  4. Phase-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the Vela pulsar with NICER observations
    E. Zubieta, F. García, S. del Palacio +2
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textHigh-energy astrophysicsHigh-energy & particle physicsarXiv
  5. What We Have Learned from NICER About Neutron Star Radii
    M. C. Miller
    arXivPreprintCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textHigh-energy astrophysicsNuclear physicsarXiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{kini2026nicer,
  title = {{A NICER View of PSR J0030+0451: Updated Constraints from 6 yr of NICER Observations}},
  author = {Yves Kini and Lucien Mauviard and Tuomo Salmi and Anna L. Watts and Sébastien Guillot and Bas Dorsman and Devarshi Choudhury and Denis González–Caniulef and Mariska Hoogkamer and Daniela Huppenkothen and Christine Kazantsev and Matthew T. Kerr and S. Nissanke and Paul S. Ray and Pierre Stammler and S. Vinciguerra},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae733e},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae733e},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A NICER View of PSR J0030+0451: Updated Constraints from 6 yr of NICER Observations
AU  - Yves Kini
AU  - Lucien Mauviard
AU  - Tuomo Salmi
AU  - Anna L. Watts
AU  - Sébastien Guillot
AU  - Bas Dorsman
AU  - Devarshi Choudhury
AU  - Denis González–Caniulef
AU  - Mariska Hoogkamer
AU  - Daniela Huppenkothen
AU  - Christine Kazantsev
AU  - Matthew T. Kerr
AU  - S. Nissanke
AU  - Paul S. Ray
AU  - Pierre Stammler
AU  - S. Vinciguerra
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/06
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae733e
UR  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae733e
AB  - Pulse-profile modeling of rotation-powered millisecond pulsars targeted by NICER has enabled mass–radius constraints of several neutron star sources, with implications for the dense-matter equation of state. For the bright isolated pulsar PSR J0030+0451, the inferred mass and radius were previously found to depend strongly on the assumed hot-spot model. These hot-spot models yielded different mass–radius constraints, with the statistically preferred model exhibiting some mild tension with results inferred for PSR J0437−4715, PSR J0614−3329, and GW170817. We present an updated pulse-profile analysis of PSR J0030+0451 using new NICER observations obtained between 2017 July to 2023 January, increasing the number of X-ray counts by about 50% compared to previous analyses. We jointly analyze the NICER data with archival XMM-Newton observations to better constrain the source spectrum and background. The new analysis, using more conservative nested-sampling settings together with the new NICER observations, significantly reduces the discrepancy between the hot-spot models. The inferred mass and radius are M = 1.4 3 − 0.17 + 0.20 M ⊙ and R eq = 12.6 8 − 1.04 + 1.31 km (68% credible intervals), reducing the tension with the results from other sources. In addition, the inferred hot-spot configurations suggest the presence of intraspot temperature gradients.
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
ER  -