A Hierarchical Triple Star System in M 4

The radio millisecond pulsar PSR B1620−26 is part of an extraordinary triple star system in the globular cluster M4. The inner companion to the neutron star is thought to be a white dwarf of mass m1 ≃ 0.3M⊙ in an orbit of period ≃ 0.5 yr. The nature and orbital characteristics of the second, more distant companion, have remained a mystery for many years. A theoretical analysis of the latest available radio pulsar timing data is presented here, allowing us to determine approximately the mass and orbital parameters of the second companion. Remarkably, the current best-fit parameters correspond to a second companion of planetary mass, with m2 sin i2 ≃ 7 × 10 −3 M⊙, in an orbit of eccentricity e2 ≃ 0.45 and with a large semimajor axis a2 ≃ 60AU. The short dynamical lifetime of this very wide triple in M4 suggests that large numbers of such planets must be present in globular clusters. We also address the question of the anomalously high eccentricity of the inner binary pulsar. While this eccentricity could have been induced during the same dynamical interaction that created the triple, we find that it could also naturally arise from long-term secular perturbation effects in the triple, combining the general relativistic precession of the inner orbit with the Newtonian gravitational perturbation by the outer planet.