1,985 research outputs found
X-Ray Timing, Spectroscopy and Photometry of the Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar Candidate CXOU J010043.1-721134
We present new X-ray timing and spectral results on the 8.0-second X-ray
pulsar CXOU J010043.1-721134 from a series of observations using the Chandra
X-ray Observatory. We find a spin period in 2004 January of 8.020392pm0.000009
seconds. Comparison of this to 2001 Chandra observations implies a period
derivative dot{P} = (1.88 pm 0.08) times 10^{-11} s s^{-1}, leading to an
inferred dipole surface magnetic field of 3.9 times 10^{14} G. The spectrum is
well fit to an absorbed blackbody of temperature kT = 0.38pm0.02 keV with a
power law tail of photon index Gamma = 2.0pm0.6. We find that the source has an
unabsorbed X-ray flux (0.5-10 keV) of 4(+2-1) times 10^{-13} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}
and a corresponding X-ray luminosity of ~2 times 10^{35} erg s^{-1} for a
distance of 60 kpc. These properties support classification of CXOU
J010043.1-721134 as the seventh confirmed anomalous X-ray pulsar,the eleventh
confirmed magnetar, and the first magnetar to be identified in the Small
Magellanic Cloud.Comment: 5 pages, plus 1 embedded eps figure. Refined coordinates of source,
including typo in declination. ApJ Letters, in pres
The Proper Motion of PSR J0205+6449 in 3C 58
We report on sensitive phase-referenced and gated 1.4-GHz VLBI radio
observations of the pulsar PSR J0205+6449 in the young pulsar-wind nebula 3C
58, made in 2007 and 2010. We employed a novel technique where the ~105-m Green
Bank telescope is used simultaneously to obtain single-dish data used to
determine the pulsar's period as well as to obtain the VLBI data, allowing the
VLBI correlation to be gated synchronously with the pulse to increase the
signal-to-noise. The high timing noise of this young pulsar precludes the
determination of the proper motion from the pulsar timing. We derive the
position of the pulsar accurate at the milliarcsecond level, which is
consistent with a re-determined position from the Chandra X-ray observations.
We reject the original tentative optical identification of the pulsar by
Shearer and Neustroev (2008), but rather identify a different optical
counterpart on their images, with R-band magnitude ~24. We also determine an
accurate proper motion for PSR J0205+6449 of (2.3 +- 0.3) mas/yr, corresponding
to a projected velocity of only (35 +- 6) km/s for a distance of 3.2 kpc, at
p.a. -38 deg. This projected velocity is quite low compared to the velocity
dispersion of known pulsars of ~200 km/s. Our measured proper motion does not
suggest any particular kinematic age for the pulsar.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA
A broadband radio study of the average profile and giant pulses from PSR B1821-24A
We present the results of wide-band (720-2400 MHz) study of PSR B1821-24A
(J1824-2452A, M28A), an energetic millisecond pulsar visible in radio, X-rays
and gamma-rays. In radio, the pulsar has a complex average profile which spans
>85% of the spin period and exhibits strong evolution with observing frequency.
For the first time we measure phase-resolved polarization properties and
spectral indices of radio emission throughout almost all of the on-pulse
window. We combine this knowledge with the high-energy information to compare
M28A to other known gamma-ray millisecond pulsars and to speculate that M28A's
radio emission originates in multiple regions within its magnetosphere (i.e.
both in the slot or outer gaps near the light cylinder and at lower altitudes
above the polar cap). M28A is one of the handful of pulsars which are known to
emit Giant Pulses (GPs) -- short, bright radio pulses of unknown nature. We
report a drop in the linear polarization of the average profile in both windows
of GP generation and also a `W'-shaped absorption feature (resembling a double
notch), partly overlapping with one of the GP windows. The GPs themselves have
broadband spectra consisting of multiple patches with fractional spectral width
() of about 0.07. Although our time resolution was not
sufficient to resolve the GP structure on the microsecond scale, we argue that
GPs from this pulsar most closely resemble the GPs from the main pulse of the
Crab pulsar, which consist of a series of narrowband nanoshots.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted to Ap
Out of the frying pan: a young pulsar with a long radio trail emerging from SNR G315.9-0.0
The faint radio supernova remnant SNR G315.9-0.0 is notable for a long and
thin trail that extends outward perpendicular from the edge of its
approximately circular shell. In a search with the Parkes telescope we have
found a young and energetic pulsar that is located at the tip of this
collimated linear structure. PSR J1437-5959 has period P = 61 ms,
characteristic age tau_c = 114 kyr, and spin-down luminosity dE/dt = 1.4e36
erg/s. It is very faint, with a flux density at 1.4 GHz of about 75 uJy. From
its dispersion measure of 549 pc/cc, we infer d ~ 8 kpc. At this distance and
for an age comparable to tau_c, the implied pulsar velocity in the plane of the
sky is V_t = 300 km/s for a birth at the center of the SNR, although it is
possible that the SNR/pulsar system is younger than tau_c and that V_t > 300
km/s. The highly collimated linear feature is evidently the pulsar wind trail
left from the supersonic passage of PSR J1437-5959 through the interstellar
medium surrounding SNR G315.9-0.0.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Discovery of an Energetic Pulsar Associated with SNR G76.9+1.0
We report the discovery of PSR J2022+3842, a 24 ms radio and X-ray pulsar in
the supernova remnant G76.9+1.0, in observations with the Chandra X-ray
telescope, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Radio Telescope, and the Rossi X-ray
Timing Explorer (RXTE). The pulsar's spin-down rate implies a rotation-powered
luminosity Edot = 1.2 x 10^{38} erg/s, a surface dipole magnetic field strength
B_s = 1.0 x 10^{12} G, and a characteristic age of 8.9 kyr. PSR J2022+3842 is
thus the second-most energetic Galactic pulsar known, after the Crab, as well
as the most rapidly-rotating young, radio-bright pulsar known. The radio
pulsations are highly dispersed and broadened by interstellar scattering, and
we find that a large (delta-f / f ~= 1.9 x 10^{-6}) spin glitch must have
occurred between our discovery and confirmation observations. The X-ray pulses
are narrow (0.06 cycles FWHM) and visible up to 20 keV, consistent with
magnetospheric emission from a rotation-powered pulsar. The Chandra X-ray image
identifies the pulsar with a hard, unresolved source at the midpoint of the
double-lobed radio morphology of SNR G76.9+1.0 and embedded within faint,
compact X-ray nebulosity. The spatial relationship of the X-ray and radio
emissions is remarkably similar to extended structure seen around the Vela
pulsar. The combined Chandra and RXTE pulsar spectrum is well-fitted by an
absorbed power-law model with column density N_H = (1.7\pm0.3) x 10^{22}
cm^{-2} and photon index Gamma = 1.0\pm0.2; it implies that the Chandra
point-source flux is virtually 100% pulsed. For a distance of 10 kpc, the X-ray
luminosity of PSR J2022+3842 is L_X(2-10 keV) = 7.0 x 10^{33} erg s^{-1}.
Despite being extraordinarily energetic, PSR J2022+3842 lacks a bright X-ray
wind nebula and has an unusually low conversion efficiency of spin-down power
to X-ray luminosity, L_X/Edot = 5.9 x 10^{-5}.Comment: 8 pages in emulateapj format. Minor changes (including a shortened
abstract) to reflect the version accepted for publicatio
A Survey of 56 Mid-latitude EGRET Error Boxes for Radio Pulsars
We have conducted a radio pulsar survey of 56 unidentified gamma-ray sources
from the 3rd EGRET catalog which are at intermediate Galactic latitudes (5 deg.
< |b| < 73 deg.). For each source, four interleaved 35-minute pointings were
made with the 13-beam, 1400-MHz multibeam receiver on the Parkes 64-m radio
telescope. This covered the 95% error box of each source at a limiting
sensitivity of about 0.2 mJy to pulsed radio emission for periods P > 10 ms and
dispersion measures < 50 pc cm-3. Roughly half of the unidentified gamma-ray
sources at |b| > 5 deg. with no proposed active galactic nucleus counterpart
were covered in this survey. We detected nine isolated pulsars and four
recycled binary pulsars, with three from each class being new. Timing
observations suggest that only one of the pulsars has a spin-down luminosity
which is even marginally consistent with the inferred luminosity of its
coincident EGRET source. Our results suggest that population models, which
include the Gould belt as a component, overestimate the number of isolated
pulsars among the mid-latitude Galactic gamma-ray sources and that it is
unlikely that Gould belt pulsars make up the majority of these sources.
However, the possibility of steep pulsar radio spectra and the confusion of
terrestrial radio interference with long-period pulsars (P > 200 ms) having
very low dispersion measures (< 10 pc cm-3, expected for sources at a distance
of less than about 1 kpc) prevent us from strongly ruling out this hypothesis.
Our results also do not support the hypothesis that millisecond pulsars make up
the majority of these sources. Non-pulsar source classes should therefore be
further investigated as possible counterparts to the unidentified EGRET sources
at intermediate Galactic latitudes.Comment: 24 pages, including 4 figures and 3 tables. Accepted for publication
in Ap
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