Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userObservations of PSR J2021+3651 and its X-ray Pulsar Wind Nebula G75.2+0.1
62
0
0.0
(
0
)
Added by
Jason W. T. Hessels
Publication date
2004
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We present results from X-ray and radio observations of the recently discovered young Vela-like pulsar PSR J2021+3651, which is coincident with the EGRET gamma-ray source GeV 2020+3658. A 19.0-ks Chandra ACIS-S observation has revealed a ~20 x 10 pulsar wind nebula that is reminiscent of the equatorial tori seen around some young pulsars, along with thermal emission from an embedded point source (kT = 0.15 +/- 0.02 keV). We name the nebula G75.2+0.1. Its spectrum is well fit by an absorbed power-law model with photon index 1.7 +/- 0.3, hydrogen column density nH = 7.8 +/- 1.7 x 10^21 cm^-2, and an unabsorbed 0.3-10.0 keV flux of 1.9 +/- 0.3 x 10^-12 erg cm^-2 s^-1. We have spatially fit G75.2+0.1 with a model that assumes a toroidal morphology, and from this we infer that the torus is highly inclined 83 deg +/- 1 deg to the line of sight. A 20.8-ks Chandra observation in continuous-clocking mode reveals a possible pulse detection, with a pulsed fraction of ~37% and an H-test probability of occuring by chance of 1.2 x 10^-4. Timing observations with the Arecibo radio telescope spanning two years show that PSR J2021+3651 glitched sometime between MJDs 52616 and 52645 with parameters delta(v)/v = (2.587 +/- 0.002) x 10^-6 and delta(dot(v))/v = (6.2 +/- 0.3) x 10^-3, similar to those of the largest glitches observed in the Vela pulsar. PSR J2021+3651 is heavily scattered (T_sc = 17.7 ms +/- 0.9 ms at 1 GHz) and exhibits a significant amount of timing noise.
rate research
Read More
PSR J1833-1034 and its associated Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) has been investigated in depth through X-ray observations ranging from 0.1 to 200 keV. The low energy X-ray data from Chandra reveal a complex morphology that is characterised by a bright central plerion, no thermal shell and an extended diffuse halo. The spectral emission from the central plerion softens with radial distance from the pulsar, with the spectral index ranging from $Gamma $ = 1.61 in the central region to $Gamma $ =2.36 at the edge of the PWN. At higher energy INTEGRAL detected the source in the 17--200 keV range. The data analysis clearly shows that the main contribution to the spectral emission in the hard X-ray energy range is originated from the PWN, while the pulsar is dominant above 200 keV. Recent HESS observations in the high energy gamma-ray domain show that PSR J1833-1034 is a bright TeV emitter, with a flux corresponding to $sim$2 per cent of the Crab in 1--10 TeV range. In addition the spectral shape in the TeV energy region matches well with that in the hard X-rays observed by INTEGRAL. Based on these findings, we conclude that the emission from the pulsar and its associated PWN can be described in a scenario where hard X-rays are produced through synchrotron light of electrons with Lorentz factor $gammasim10^{9}$ in a magnetic field of $sim$10 micro Gauss. In this hypothesis the TeV emission is due to Inverse Compton interaction of the cooled electrons off the Cosmic Microwave Background photons. Search for PSR J1833-1034 X-ray pulsed emission, via RXTE and Swift X-ray observations, resulted in an upper limit that is about 50 per cent.
We describe recent Chandra ACIS observations of the Vela-like pulsar PSR J2021+3651 and its pulsar wind nebula (PWN). This `Dragonfly Nebula displays an axisymmetric morphology, with bright inner jets, a double-ridged inner nebula, and a ~30 polar jet. The PWN is embedded in faint diffuse emission: a bow shock-like structure with standoff ~1 brackets the pulsar to the east and emission trails off westward for 3-4. Thermal (kT=0.16 +/-0.02 keV) and power law emission are detected from the pulsar. The nebular X-rays show spectral steepening from Gamma=1.5 in the equatorial torus to Gamma=1.9 in the outer nebula, suggesting synchrotron burn-off. A fit to the `Dragonfly structure suggests a large (86 +/-1 degree) inclination with a double equatorial torus. Vela is currently the only other PWN showing such double structure. The >12 kpc distance implied by the pulsar dispersion measure is not supported by the X-ray data; spectral, scale and efficiency arguments suggest a more modest 3-4 kpc.
PSR J2021+3651 is a 17 kyr old rotation powered pulsar detected in the radio, X-rays, and $gamma$-rays. It powers a torus-like pulsar wind nebula with jets, dubbed the Dragonfly, which is very similar to that of the Vela pulsar. The Dragonfly is likely associated with the extended TeV source VER J2019+368 and extended radio emission. We conducted first deep optical observations with the GTC in the Sloan $r$ band to search for optical counterparts of the pulsar and its nebula. No counterparts were detected down to $rgtrsim27.2$ and $gtrsim24.8$ for the point-like pulsar and the compact X-ray nebula, respectively. We also reanalyzed Chandra archival X-ray data taking into account an interstellar extinction--distance relation, constructed by us for the Dragonfly line of sight using the red-clump stars as standard candles. This allowed us to constrain the distance to the pulsar, $D=1.8^{+1.7}_{-1.4}$ kpc at 90% confidence. It is much smaller than the dispersion measure distance of $sim$12 kpc but compatible with a $gamma$-ray pseudo-distance of 1 kpc. Based on that and the optical upper limits, we conclude that PSR J2021+3651, similar to the Vela pulsar, is a very inefficient nonthermal emitter in the optical and X-rays, while its $gamma$-ray efficiency is consistent with an average efficiency for $gamma$-pulsars of similar age. Our optical flux upper limit for the pulsar is consistent with the long-wavelength extrapolation of its X-ray spectrum while the nebula flux upper limit does not constrain the respective extrapolation.
PSR~J2021+4026 showed a sudden decrease in the gamma-ray emission at the glitch that occurred around 2011, October 16, and a relaxation of the flux to the pre-glitch state at around 2014 December. We report X-ray analysis results of the data observed by XMM-Newton on 2015 December 20 in the post-relaxation state. To examine any change in the X-ray emission, we compare the properties of the pulse profiles and spectra at the low gamma-ray flux state and at the post-relaxation state. The phase-averaged spectra for both states can be well described by a power-law component plus a blackbody component. The former is dominated by unpulsed emission and is probably originated from the pulsar wind nebula as reported by Hui et al (2015). The emission property of the blackbody component is consistent with the emission from the polar cap heated by the back-flow bombardment of the high-energy electrons or positrons that were accelerated in the magnetosphere. We found no significant change in the X-ray emission properties between two states. We suggest that the change of the X-ray luminosity is at an order of ~4%, which is difficult to measure with the current observations. We model the observed X-ray light curve with the heated polar cap emission and we speculate that the observed large pulsed fraction is owing to asymmetric magnetospheric structure.
Previous observations of the middle-aged pulsar Geminga with XMM-Newton and Chandra have shown an unusual pulsar wind nebula (PWN), with a 20 long central (axial) tail directed opposite to the pulsars proper motion and two 2 long, bent lateral (outer) tails. Here we report on a deeper (78 ks) Chandra observation and a few additional XMM-Newton observations of the Geminga PWN. The new Chandra observation has shown that the axial tail, which includes up to three brighter blobs, extends at least 50 (i.e., 0.06 d_{250} pc) from the pulsar. It also allowed us to image the patchy outer tails and the emission in the immediate vicinity of the pulsar with high resolution. The PWN luminosity, L_{0.3-8 keV} ~ 3times 10^{29} d_{250}^2 erg/s, is lower than the pulsars magnetospheric luminosity by a factor of 10. The spectra of the PWN elements are rather hard (photon index ~ 1). Comparing the two Chandra images, we found evidence of PWN variability, including possible motion of the blobs along the axial tail. The X-ray PWN is the synchrotron radiation from relativistic particles of the pulsar wind; its morphology is connected with the supersonic motion of Geminga. We speculate that the outer tails are either (1) a sky projection of the limb-brightened boundary of a shell formed in the region of contact discontinuity, where the wind bulk flow is decelerated by shear instability, or (2) polar outflows from the pulsar bent by the ram pressure from the ISM. In the former case, the axial tail may be a jet emanating along the pulsars spin axis, perhaps aligned with the direction of motion. In the latter case, the axial tail may be the shocked pulsar wind collimated by the ram pressure.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
