Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2004-07-29
Astrophys.J. 616 (2004) 1118-1123
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
To appear in The Astrophysical Journal, 11 pages, 6 figures
Scientific paper
10.1086/424924
We report on a 19 ks observation of the pulsar J1016-5857 with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This "Vela-like" pulsar has rotation period 107 ms, characteristic age 21 kyr, and spin-down power 2.6e36 ergs/s. A relatively bright centrally peaked source of radius ~25" around the radio pulsar position has a spectrum that is well fitted by an absorbed power law with photon index 1.32+-0.25. We regard this as a newly identified pulsar wind nebula that we designate PWN G284.0-1.8. We do not detect the pulsar either as a point X-ray source or as a pulsed source in a 55 ks observation with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. The isotropic PWN luminosity is 3e32 ergs/s in the 2-10 keV range, for a distance of 3 kpc that is consistent with the measured neutral hydrogen column density. The unpulsed flux from the pulsar is less than 30% of the measured PWN flux. The brightest component of the PWN, near the pulsar, shows extended emission of size ~2" that may indicate, by analogy with other young pulsars, the wind termination shock. In the Chandra image we also detect a very faint extended structure ~1' by 2' in size that is highly asymmetric about the pulsar position. This structure is a good match in width and position angle to the tip of a "finger" of radio emission that appears to connect to the nearby supernova remnant G284.3-1.8, but we cannot characterize it further with the available data. There is a variable X-ray point source only 1.5 arcmin from the pulsar, which we identify using optical spectroscopy as an accreting binary.
Camilo Fernando
Gaensler Bryan M.
Gotthelf Eric Van
Halpern Jules P.
Manchester Richard N.
No associations
LandOfFree
Chandra Detection of a Synchrotron Nebula Around the Vela-like Pulsar J1016-5857 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Chandra Detection of a Synchrotron Nebula Around the Vela-like Pulsar J1016-5857, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Chandra Detection of a Synchrotron Nebula Around the Vela-like Pulsar J1016-5857 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-456558