Research report 2006 - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
XMM-Newton reveals a precessing neutron star
Authors
Haberl, Frank
Departments
Röntgen- und Gammastrahlen-Astronomie (Dr. Peter Predehl), MPI für extraterrestrische Physik, Garching
Summary
Observations of nearby neutrons stars with the X-ray observatory XMM-Newton revealed a surprising discovery: variations in the X-ray spectrum of RX J0720.4-3125 were found over only a few years. The likely conclusion is that the neutron star precesses. The study of precession may provide an interesting tool to learn more about the inner structure of neutron