A decade of timing an accretion-powered millisecond pulsar: The continuing spin down and orbital evolution of SAX J1808.4-3658

Abstract

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer has observed five outbursts from the transient 2.5 ms accretion-powered pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 during 1998-2008. We present a pulse timing study of the most recent outburst and compare it with the previous timing solutions. The spin frequency of the source continues to decrease at a rate of (-5.5 1.2) × 10-18 Hz s-1, which is consistent with the previously determined spin derivative. The spin down occurs mostly during quiescence, and is most likely due to the magnetic dipole torque from a B = 1.5 × 108 G dipolar field at the neutron star surface. We also find that the 2 hr binary orbital period is increasing at a rate of (3.80 0.06) × 10-12 s s-1, also consistent with previous measurements. It remains uncertain whether this orbital change reflects secular evolution or short-term variability. © 2009 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.