We present the results of an XMM–Newton observation of the slowly rotating ( P = 3.4 s ) , highly magnetized ( B \approx 3 \times 10 ^ { 13 } G ) radio pulsar PSR J0726 - 2612 .
A previous X-ray observation with the Chandra satellite showed that some of the properties of PSR J0726 - 2612 are similar to those of the X-ray Dim Isolated Neutron Stars ( XDINSs ) , a small class of nearby slow pulsars characterized by purely thermal X-ray spectra and undetected in the radio band .
We confirm the thermal nature of the X-ray emission of PSR J0726 - 2612 , which can be fit by the sum of two blackbodies with temperatures kT _ { 1 } = 0.074 _ { -0.011 } ^ { +0.006 } keV and kT _ { 2 } = 0.14 _ { -0.02 } ^ { +0.04 } keV and emitting radii R _ { 1 } = 10.4 _ { -2.8 } ^ { +10.8 } km and R _ { 2 } = 0.5 _ { -0.3 } ^ { +0.9 } km , respectively ( assuming a distance of 1 kpc ) .
A broad absorption line modeled with a Gaussian profile centred at 0.39 _ { -0.03 } ^ { +0.02 } keV is required in the fit .
The pulse profile of PSR J0726 - 2612 is characterized by two peaks with similar intensity separated by two unequal minima , a shape and pulsed fraction that can not be reproduced without invoking magnetic beaming of the X-ray emission .
The presence of a single radio pulse suggests that in PSR J0726 - 2612 the angles that the dipole axis and the line of sight make with the rotation axis , \xi and \chi respectively , are similar .
This geometry differs from that of the two radio-silent XDINSs with a double peaked pulse profile similar to that of PSR J0726 - 2612 , for which \xi \sim 90 ^ { \circ } and \chi \sim 45 ^ { \circ } have been recently estimated .
These results strengthen the similarity between PSR J0726 - 2612 and the XDINSs and support the possibility that the lack of radio emission from the latter might simply be due to an unfavourable viewing geometry .