We present high spatial resolution optical imaging and polarization observations of the PSR B0540-69.3 and its highly dynamical pulsar wind nebula (PWN) performed with HST, and compare them with X-ray data obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
We have studied the bright region southwest of the pulsar where a bright blob is seen in 1999. We show that it may be a result of local energy deposition around 1999, and that the emission from this then faded away. Polarization data from 2007 show that the polarization properties show dramatic spatial variations at the 1999 blob position arguing for a local process. Several other positions along the pulsar-blob orientation show similar changes in polarization, indicating previous recent local energy depositions. In X-rays, the spectrum steepens away from the blob position, faster orthogonal to the pulsar-blob direction than along this axis of orientation. This could indicate that the pulsar-blob orientation is an axis along where energy in the PWN is mainly injected, and that this is then mediated to the filaments in the PWN by shocks. We highlight this by constructing an [S II]-to-[O III]-ratio map. We argue, through modeling, that the high [S II]/[O III] ratio is not due to time-dependent photoionization caused by possible rapid Xray emission variations in the blob region. We have also created a multiwavelength energy spectrum for the blob position showing that one can, to within 2sigma, connect the optical and X-ray emission by a single power law. We obtain best power-law fits for the X-ray spectrum if we include extra oxygen, in addition to the oxygen column density in the interstellar gas of the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Milky Way. This oxygen is most naturally explained by the oxygen-rich ejecta of the supernova remnant. The oxygen needed likely places the progenitor mass in the 20 - 25 Msun range.
