Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· arXiv e-print (arXiv:astro-ph/0609309)
· On-line Data
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (11) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· SIMBAD Objects (4)
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
A Shell of Thermal X-Ray Emission Surrounding the Young Crab-like Remnant 3C 58
Authors:
Gotthelf, E. V.; Helfand, D. J.; Newburgh, L.
Affiliation:
AA(Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027; ), AB(Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027; ), AC(Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027; )
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 654, Issue 1, pp. 267-272. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
01/2007
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Stars: Pulsars: General, stars: individual (PSR J0205+6449), stars: individual (3C 58), Stars: Neutron, X-Rays: Stars, ISM: Supernova Remnants
DOI:
10.1086/508767
Bibliographic Code:
2007ApJ...654..267G

Abstract

Deep X-ray imaging spectroscopy of the bright pulsar wind nebula 3C 58 confirms the existence of an embedded thermal X-ray shell surrounding the pulsar PSR J0205+6449. Radially resolved spectra obtained with the XMM-Newton telescope are well characterized by a power-law model with the addition of a soft thermal emission component in varying proportions. These fits reproduce the well-studied increase in the spectral index with radius attributed to synchrotron burn off of high energy electrons. Most interestingly, a radially resolved thermal component is shown to map out a shell-like structure ~6' in diameter. The presence of a strong emission line corresponding to the Ne IX He-like transition requires an overabundance of ~3×(Ne/Nesolar) in the Raymond-Smith plasma model. The best-fit temperature kT~0.23 keV is essentially independent of radius for the derived column density of NH=(4.2+/-0.1)×1021 cm-2. Our result suggests that thermal shells can be obscured in the early evolution of a supernova remnant by nonthermal pulsar wind nebulae emission; the luminosity of the 3C 58 shell is more than an order of magnitude below the upper limit on a similar shell in the Crab Nebula. We find the shell centroid to be offset from the pulsar location. If this neutron star has a velocity similar to that of the Crab pulsar, we derive an age of 3700 yr and a velocity vector aligned with the long axis of the PWN. The shell parameters and pulsar offset add to the accumulating evidence that 3C 58 is not the remnant of the supernova of CE 1181.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints