Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2004-06-09
Astrophys.J. 610 (2004) L33-L36
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
To appear in ApJ Letters
Scientific paper
10.1086/423238
The radio pulsar B1951+32 and the supernova remnant CTB 80 provide a rich laboratory for the study of neutron stars and supernova remnants. Here, we present ground-based optical and near-infrared observations of them, along with X-ray observations with Chandra and a re-analysis of archival data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. The X-ray observations reveal a cometary pulsar wind nebula which appears to be confined by a bow shock produced by high-velocity motion of the pulsar, making PSR B1951+32 a rare pulsar exhibiting both an H alpha bow shock and a shocked X-ray pulsar wind nebula. The distribution of H alpha and radio continuum emission is indicative of a contact discontinuity of the shocked pulsar winds and shocked ambient medium at \~0.05 pc. On the other hand, the optical synchrotron knot of PSR B1951+32 likely has a flat spectrum in the optical and near-infrared wavebands, and our astrometry is consistent with only one of the two reported optical counterpart candidates for the pulsar.
Chatterjee Saikat
Cordes James M.
Eikenberry Stephen Scott
Gallant Yves A.
Hester Jeff J.
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