We present the results of deep optical imaging of the radio/γ-ray
pulsar PSR J2043+2740, obtained with the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). With
a characteristic age of 1.2 Myr, PSR J2043+2740 is one of the oldest (non
recycled) pulsars detected in γ-rays, although with still a quite high
rotational energy reservoir (E˙rot=5.6×1034 erg
s−1). The presumably close distance (a few hundred pc), suggested by the
hydrogen column density (NH≲3.6×1020 cm−2),
would make it a viable target for deep optical observations, never attempted
until now. We observed the pulsar with the Large Binocular Camera of the LBT.
The only object (V=25.44±0.05) detected within ~3" from the pulsar radio
coordinates is unrelated to it. PSR J2043+2740 is, thus, undetected down to
V~26.6 (3-σ), the deepest limit on its optical emission. We discuss the
implications of this result on the pulsar emission properties.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication on MNRA