Using long-term millisecond pulsar timing to obtain physical characteristics of the bulge globular cluster Terzan 5

Understand

Over the past decade the discovery of three unique stellar populations and a large number of confirmed pulsars within the globular cluster Terzan 5 has raised questions over its classification.

• Using the long-term radio pulsar timing of 36 millisecond pulsars in the cluster core, we provide new measurements of key physical properties of the system.
• As Terzan 5 is located within the galactic bulge, stellar crowding and reddening make optical and near infrared observations difficult.
• Pulsar accelerations, however, allow us to study the intrinsic characteristics of the cluster independent of reddening and stellar crowding and probe the mass density profile without needing to quantify the mass to light ratio.