Discovery of a 105 ms X-ray Pulsar in Kesteven 79: On the Nature of Compact Central Objects in Supernova Remnants

Details Discovery of a 105 ms X-ray Pulsar in Kesteven 79: On the Nature of Compact Central Objects in Supernova Remnants Discovery of a 105 ms X-ray Pulsar in Kesteven 79: On the Nature of Compact Central Objects in Supernova Remnants

2005-03-19

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0503424v1

Astrophys.J. 627 (2005) 390

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

8 pages, 4 Figues. Latex, emulateapj.sty. To appear in the Astrophysical Journal

Scientific paper

10.1086/430300

We report the discovery of 105-ms X-ray pulsations from the compact central object (CCO) in the supernova remnant Kes 79 using data acquired with the Newton X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission. Two observations of the pulsar taken 6 days apart yield an upper limit on its spin-down rate of dP/dt < 7E-14 s/s and no evidence for binary orbital motion. The implied energy loss rate is dE/dt < 2E36 ergs/s, surface magnetic field strength is B_p < 3E12 G, and spin-down age is t > 24 kyr. The latter exceeds the remnant's estimated age, suggesting that the pulsar was born spinning near its current period. The X-ray spectrum of PSR J1852+0040 is best characterized by a blackbody model of temperature kT_BB = 0.44 +/- 0.03 keV, radius R_BB approx. 0.9 km, and L_bol = 3.7E33 ergs/s at d = 7.1 kpc. The sinusoidal light curve is modulated with a pulsed fraction of >45%, suggestive of a small hot spot on the surface of the rotating neutron star. The lack of a discernible pulsar wind nebula is consistent with an interpretation of PSR J1852+0040 as a rotation-powered pulsar whose spin-down luminosity falls below the empirical threshold for generating bright wind nebulae, dE/dt_c approx. 4E36 ergs/s. The age discrepancy implies that its dE/dt has always been below dE/dt_c, perhaps a distinguishing property of the CCOs. Alternatively, the X-ray spectrum of PSR J1852+0040 suggests a low-luminosity AXP, but the weak inferred B_p field is incompatible with a magnetar theory of its X-ray luminosity. So far, we cannot exclude accretion from a fall-back disk. The ordinary spin parameters discovered from PSR J1852+0040 highlight the difficulty that existing theories of isolated neutron stars have in explaining the high luminosities and temperatures of CCO thermal X-ray spectra.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Discovery of a 105 ms X-ray Pulsar in Kesteven 79: On the Nature of Compact Central Objects in Supernova Remnants 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 Discovery of a 105 ms X-ray Pulsar in Kesteven 79: On the Nature of Compact Central Objects in Supernova Remnants, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Discovery of a 105 ms X-ray Pulsar in Kesteven 79: On the Nature of Compact Central Objects in Supernova Remnants will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-180327