An extremely bright gamma-ray pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Ackermann M; Albert A; Baldini L; Ballet J; Barbiellini G; Barbieri C; Bastieri D; Bellazzini R; Bissaldi E; Bonino R; Bottacini E; Brandt TJ; Bregeon J; Bruel P; Buehler R; Caliandro GA; Cameron RA; Caraveo PA; Cecchi C; Charles E; Chekhtman A; Cheung CC; Chiang J; Chiaro G; Ciprini S; Cohen-Tanugi J; Cuoco A; Cutini S; D'Ammando F; de Palma F; Desiante R; Digel SW; Di Venere L; Drell PS; Favuzzi C; Fegan SJ; Ferrara EC; Franckowiak A; Funk S; Fusco P; Gargano F; Gasparrini D; Giglietto N; Giordano F; Godfrey G; Grenier IA; Grondin MH; Grove JE; Guillemot L; Guiriec S; Hagiwara K; Harding AK; Hays E; Hewitt JW; Hill AB; Horan D; Johnson TJ; Knodiseder J; Kuss M; Larsson S; Latronico L; Lemoine-Goumard M; Li J; Li L; Longo F; Loparco F; Lovellette MN; Lubrano P; Maldera S; Manfreda A; Marshall F; Martin P; Mayer M; Mazziotta MN; Michelson PF; Mirabal N; Mizuno T; Monzani ME; Morselli A; Moskalenko IV; Murgia S; Naletto G; Nuss E; Ohsugi T; Orienti M; Orlando E; Paneque D; Pesce-Rollins M; Piron F; Pivato G; Porter TA; Raino S; Rando R; Razzano M; Reimer A; Reimer O; Reposeur T; Romani RW; Parkinson PMS; Schulz A; Sgro C; Siskind EJ; Smith DA; Spada F; Spandre G; Spinelli P; Suson DJ; Takahashi H; Thayer JB; Thompson DJ; Tibaldo L; Torres DF; Uchiyama Y; Vianello G; Wood KS; Wood M; Zampieri L

Science, Vol.350, No.6262, 801-805, 2015

DOI10.1126/science.aac7400 Export Citation

An extremely bright gamma-ray pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Ackermann M, Albert A, Baldini L, Ballet J, Barbiellini G, Barbieri C, Bastieri D, Bellazzini R, Bissaldi E, Bonino R, Bottacini E, Brandt TJ, Bregeon J, Bruel P, Buehler R, Caliandro GA, Cameron RA, Caraveo PA, Cecchi C, Charles E, Chekhtman A, Cheung CC, Chiang J, Chiaro G, Ciprini S, Cohen-Tanugi J, Cuoco A, Cutini S, D'Ammando F, de Palma F, Desiante R, Digel SW, Di Venere L, Drell PS, Favuzzi C, Fegan SJ, Ferrara EC, Franckowiak A, Funk S, Fusco P, Gargano F, Gasparrini D, Giglietto N, Giordano F, Godfrey G, Grenier IA, Grondin MH, Grove JE, Guillemot L, Guiriec S, Hagiwara K, Harding AK, Hays E, Hewitt JW, Hill AB, Horan D, Johnson TJ, Knodiseder J, Kuss M, Larsson S, Latronico L, Lemoine-Goumard M, Li J, Li L, Longo F, Loparco F, Lovellette MN, Lubrano P, Maldera S, Manfreda A, Marshall F, Martin P, Mayer M, Mazziotta MN, Michelson PF, Mirabal N, Mizuno T, Monzani ME, Morselli A, Moskalenko IV, Murgia S, Naletto G, Nuss E, Ohsugi T, Orienti M, Orlando E, Paneque D, Pesce-Rollins M, Piron F, Pivato G, Porter TA, Raino S, Rando R, Razzano M, Reimer A, Reimer O, Reposeur T, Romani RW, Parkinson PMS, Schulz A, Sgro C, Siskind EJ, Smith DA, Spada F, Spandre G, Spinelli P, Suson DJ, Takahashi H, Thayer JB, Thompson DJ, Tibaldo L, Torres DF, Uchiyama Y, Vianello G, Wood KS, Wood M, Zampieri L

Pulsars are rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars, created in the gravitational collapse of massive stars. We report the detection of pulsed giga-electron volt gamma rays from the young pulsar PSR J0540-6919 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This is the first gamma-ray pulsar detected in another galaxy. It has the most luminous pulsed gamma-ray emission yet observed, exceeding the Crab pulsar's by a factor of 20. PSR J0540-6919 presents an extreme test case for understanding the structure and evolution of neutron star magnetospheres.