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New millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in compact binaries provide a good opportunityto search for the most massive neutron stars. Their main-sequence companionstars are often strongly irradiated by the pulsar, displacing the effectivecenter of light from their barycenter and making mass measurements uncertain.We present a series of optical spectroscopic and photometric observations ofPSR J2215+5135, a "redback" binary MSP in a 4.14 hr orbit, and measure adrastic temperature contrast between the dark/cold(T$_\mathrm{N}$=5660$^{+260}_{-380}$ K) and bright/hot(T$_\mathrm{D}$=8080$^{+470}_{-280}$ K) sides of the companion star. We findthat the radial velocities depend systematically on the atmospheric absorptionlines used to measure them. Namely, the semi-amplitude of the radial velocitycurve of J2215 measured with magnesium triplet lines is systematically higherthan that measured with hydrogen Balmer lines, by 10%. We interpret this as aconsequence of strong irradiation, whereby metallic lines dominate the darkside of the companion (which moves faster) and Balmer lines trace its bright(slower) side. Further, using a physical model of an irradiated star to fitsimultaneously the two-species radial velocity curves and the three-band lightcurves, we find a center-of-mass velocity of K$_2$=412.3$\pm$5.0 km s$^{-1}$and an orbital inclination i=63.9$^\circ$$^{+2.4}_{-2.7}$. Our model is able toreproduce the observed fluxes and velocities without invoking irradiation by anextended source. We measure masses of M$_1$=2.27$^{+0.17}_{-0.15}$ M$_\odot$and M$_2$=0.33$^{+0.03}_{-0.02}$ M$_\odot$ for the neutron star and thecompanion star, respectively. If confirmed, such a massive pulsar would ruleout some of the proposed equations of state for the neutron star interior.

Peering into the dark side: magnesium lines establish a massive neutron star in PSR J2215+5135