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Detection of the energetic pulsar PSR B1509–58 and its pulsar wind nebula in MSH 15–52 using the FERMI-large area telescope

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal
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Here, we report the detection of high-energy γ-ray emission from the young and energetic pulsar PSR B1509 – 58 and its pulsar wind nebula (PWN) in the composite supernova remnant G320.4 – 1.2 (aka MSH 15 – 52). Using 1 yr of survey data with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT), we detected pulsations from PSR B1509 – 58 up to 1 GeV and extended γ-ray emission above 1 GeV spatially coincident with the PWN. The pulsar light curve presents two peaks offset from the radio peak by phases 0.96 ± 0.01 and 0.33 ± 0.02. New constraining upper limits on the pulsar emission are derived below 1 GeV and confirm a severe spectral break at a few tens of MeV. The nebular spectrum in the 1-100 GeV energy range is well described by a power law with a spectral index of (1.57 ± 0.17 ± 0.13) and a flux above 1 GeV of (2.91 ± 0.79 ± 1.35) × 10–9 cm–2 s–1. Finally, the first errors represent the statistical errors on the fit parameters, while the second ones are the systematic uncertainties. The LAT spectrum of the nebula connects nicely with Cherenkov observations, and indicates a spectral break between GeV and TeV energies.
Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Contributing Organization:
The Fermi-LAT Collaboration
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1357561
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 21448869
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 714; ISSN 0004-637X
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (28)

Magnetic Fields in Supernova Remnants and Pulsar-Wind Nebulae book January 2011
GRIPS - Gamma-Ray Imaging, Polarimetry and Spectroscopy journal August 2011
Magnetic Fields in Supernova Remnants and Pulsar-Wind Nebulae journal April 2011
Order parameters for the high-energy spectra of pulsars journal February 2018
Extending the event-weighted pulsation search to very faint gamma-ray sources journal February 2019
FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE FIRST SOURCE CATALOG journal May 2010
FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE SECOND SOURCE CATALOG journal March 2012
THE SECOND FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE CATALOG OF GAMMA-RAY PULSARS journal September 2013
MULTIBAND DIAGNOSTICS OF UNIDENTIFIED 1FGL SOURCES WITH SUZAKU AND SWIFT X-RAY OBSERVATIONS journal September 2013
FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE THIRD SOURCE CATALOG journal June 2015
HESS J1640-465 - an exceptionally luminous TeV  -ray supernova remnant journal February 2014
Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog collection January 2020
The Second Fermi Large area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-Ray Pulsars text January 2013
HESS J1640-465 - an exceptionally luminous TeV ${\gamma}$-ray supernova remnant text January 2014
3FHL: The Third Catalog of Hard Fermi -LAT Sources text January 2017
Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog text January 2020
Resonant Inverse Compton Scattering Spectra from Highly Magnetized Neutron Stars journal February 2018
Searching a Thousand Radio Pulsars for Gamma-Ray Emission journal January 2019
NuSTAR Observations of G11.2–0.3 journal January 2020
3FHL: The Third Catalog of Hard Fermi -LAT Sources journal September 2017
Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog journal March 2020
Magnetic fields in supernova remnants and pulsar-wind nebulae text January 2011
GRIPS - Gamma-Ray Imaging, Polarimetry and Spectroscopy text January 2011
HESS J1640-465 - an exceptionally luminous TeV gamma-ray supernova remnant text January 2014
3FHL: The Third Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT Sources text January 2017
Order parameters for the high-energy spectra of pulsars text January 2018
Searching a Thousand Radio Pulsars for Gamma-ray Emission text January 2018
Extending the Event-weighted Pulsation Search to Very Faint Gamma-ray Sources text January 2018

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