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Register a new userChandra observations of the elusive pulsar wind nebula around PSR B0656+14
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Authors
L. B^irzan
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PSR B0656+14 is a middle-aged pulsar with a characteristic age $tau_c=110$ kyr and spin-down power $dot{E}= 3.8times 10^{34}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Using Chandra data, we searched for a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) and found evidence of extended emission in a 3.5-15 arcsec annulus around the pulsar, with a luminosity $L_{rm 0.5-8,keV}^{rm ext} sim 8times 10^{28}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (at the distance of 288 pc), which is a fraction of $sim 0.05$ of the non-thermal pulsar luminosity. If the extended emission is mostly due to a PWN, its X-ray efficiency, $eta_{rm pwn} = L_{rm 0.5-8,keV}^{rm ext}/dot{E} sim 2times 10^{-6}$, is lower than those of most other known PWNe but similar to that of the middle-aged Geminga pulsar. The small radial extent and nearly round shape of the putative PWN can be explained if the pulsar is receding (or approaching) in the direction close to the line of sight. The very soft spectrum of the extended emission ($Gammasim 8$), much softer than those of typical PWNe, could be explained by a contribution from a faint dust scattering halo, which may dominate in the outer part of the extended emission.
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The nearby, middle-aged PSR B1055-52 has many properties in common with the Geminga pulsar. Motivated by the Gemingas enigmatic and prominent pulsar wind nebula (PWN), we searched for extended emission around PSR B1055-52 with Chandra ACIS. For an energy range 0.3-1 keV, we found a 4 sigma flux enhancement in a 4.9-20 arcsec annulus around the pulsar. There is a slight asymmetry in the emission close, 1.5-4 arcsec, to the pulsar. The excess emission has a luminosity of about 10^{29} erg s^{-1} in an energy range 0.3-8 keV for a distance of 350 pc. Overall, the faint extended emission around PSR B1055-52 is consistent with a PWN of an aligned rotator moving away from us along the line of sight with supersonic velocity, but a contribution from a dust scattering halo cannot be excluded. Comparing the properties of other nearby, middle-aged pulsars, we suggest that the geometry -- the orientations of rotation axis, magnetic field axis, and the sight-line -- is the deciding factor for a pulsar to show a prominent PWN. For PSR B1055-52, we also report on a flux decrease of at least 30% between the 2000 XMM-Newton and our 2012 Chandra observation. We tentatively attribute this flux decrease to a cross-calibration problem, but further investigations of the pulsar are required to exclude actual intrinsic flux changes.
We report on Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) observations of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) associated with PSR B0355+54 (eight observations with a 395 ks total exposure, performed over an 8 month period). We investigated the spatial and spectral properties of the emission coincident with the pulsar, compact nebula (CN), and extended tail. We find that the CN morphology can be interpreted in a way that suggests a small angle between the pulsar spin axis and our line-of-sight, as inferred from the radio data. On larger scales, emission from the 7 (2 pc) tail is clearly seen. We also found hints of two faint extensions nearly orthogonal to the direction of the pulsars proper motion. The spectrum extracted at the pulsar position can be described with an absorbed power-law + blackbody model. The nonthermal component can be attributed to magnetospheric emission, while the thermal component can be attributed to emission from either a hot spot (e.g., a polar cap) or the entire neutron star surface. Surprisingly, the spectrum of the tail shows only a slight hint of cooling with increasing distance from the pulsar. This implies either a low magnetic field with fast flow speed, or particle re-acceleration within the tail. We estimate physical properties of the PWN and compare the morphologies of the CN and the extended tail with those of other bow shock PWNe observed with long CXO exposures.
Using high-quality Hubble Space Telescope observations, we construct the near infra-red (NIR) to far ultra-violet (FUV) spectral energy distribution (SED) of PSR B0656+14. The SED is non-monotonic. Fitting it with a simple combination of a Rayleigh-Jeans spectrum (UV) and non-thermal power-law (optical/NIR) leaves significant residuals, strongly hinting at one or more spectral features. We consider various models (combination of continuum components, and absorption/emission lines) with possible interpretations, and place them in the context of the broader spectral energy distribution. Surprisingly, the extrapolation of the best-fit X-ray spectral model roughly match the NIR-FUV data, and the power-law component is also consistent with the gamma-ray fluxes. We compare the multiwavelength SED of B0656+14 with those of other optical, X-ray and gamma-ray detected pulsars, and notice that a simple power-law spectrum crudely accounts for most of the non-thermal emission.
The results from a systematic study of eleven pulsar wind nebulae with a torus structure observed with the Chandra X-ray observatory are presented. A significant observational correlation is found between the radius of the tori, r, and the spin-down luminosity of the pulsars, Edot. A logarithmic linear fit between the two parameters yields log r = (0.57 +- 0.22) log Edot -22.3 +- 8.0 with a correlation coefficient of 0.82, where the units of r and Edot are pc and ergs s^-1, respectively. The value obtained for the Edot dependency of r is consistent with a square root law, which is theoretically expected. This is the first observational evidence of this dependency, and provides a useful tool to estimate the spin-down energies of pulsars without direct detections of pulsation. Applications of this dependency to some other samples are also shown.
PSR J1809-1917 is a young ($tau=51$ kyr) energetic ($dot{E}=1.8times10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$) radio pulsar powering a pulsar wind nebula (PWN). We report on the results of three Chandra X-ray Observatory observations which show that the PWN consists of a small ($sim 20$) bright compact nebula (CN) and faint extended emission seen up to $2$ from the pulsar. The CN is elongated in the northeast-southwest direction and exhibits morphological and flux variability on a timescale of a few months. We also find evidence of small arcsecond-scale jets extending from the pulsar along the same direction, and exhibiting a hard power-law (PL) spectrum with photon index $Gamma_{rm jet}=1.2pm0.1$. The more extended emission and CN share the same symmetry axis, which is also aligned with the direction toward the TeV $gamma$-ray source HESS J1809--193, supporting their association. The spectrum of the extended nebula (EN) fits an absorbed PL with about the same slope as that of the CN, $Gamma_{rm CN}approxGamma_{rm EN}=1.55pm0.09$; no spectral changes across the ENs 2 pc extent are seen. The total PWN 0.5-8 keV luminosity is $L_{rm PWN}approx 9times10^{32}$ erg s$^{-1}$, about half of which is due to the EN.
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