DISCOVERY OF A FAINT X-RAY COUNTERPART AND A PARSEC-LONG X-RAY TAIL FOR THE MIDDLE-AGED, {gamma}-RAY-ONLY PULSAR PSR J0357+3205
- IUSS-Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori, viale Lungo Ticino Sforza 56, 27100 Pavia (Italy)
- INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica Milano, via E. Bassini 15, 20133 Milano (Italy)
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT (United Kingdom)
- European Southern Observatory, Karl Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
- Centre for Astronomy, National University of Ireland, Newcastle Road, Galway (Ireland)
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope opened a new era for pulsar astronomy, detecting {gamma}-ray pulsations from more than 60 pulsars, {approx}40% of which are not seen at radio wavelengths. One of the most interesting sources discovered by LAT is PSR J0357+3205, a radio-quiet, middle-aged ({tau}{sub C} {approx} 0.5 Myr) pulsar standing out for its very low spin-down luminosity (E-dot{sub rot}{approx}6x10{sup 33} erg s{sup -1}), indeed the lowest among non-recycled {gamma}-ray pulsars. A deep X-ray observation with Chandra (0.5-10 keV), coupled with sensitive optical/infrared ground-based images of the field, allowed us to identify PSR J0357+3205 as a faint source with a soft spectrum, consistent with a purely non-thermal emission (photon index {Gamma} = 2.53 {+-} 0.25). The absorbing column (N{sub H} = 8 {+-} 4 x 10{sup 20} cm{sup -2}) is consistent with a distance of a few hundred parsecs. Moreover, the Chandra data unveiled a huge (9 arcmin long) extended feature apparently protruding from the pulsar. Its non-thermal X-ray spectrum points to synchrotron emission from energetic particles from the pulsar wind, possibly similar to other elongated X-ray tails associated with rotation-powered pulsars and explained as bow-shock pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). However, energetic arguments as well as the peculiar morphology of the diffuse feature associated with PSR J0357+3205 make the bow-shock PWN interpretation rather challenging.
- OSTI ID:
- 21576723
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 733, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/733/2/104; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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