DETECTION OF AN X-RAY PULSATION FOR THE GAMMA-RAY PULSAR CENTERED IN CTA 1

Journal Article · Fri Dec 10 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/725/1/L1· OSTI ID:21454925

Lin, L C. C.; Hwang, C Y ^[1]; Huang, R H. H.; Kong, A K. H. ^[2]; Takata, J ^[3]

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1. Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan (China)
2. Institute of Astronomy and Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China)
3. Department of Physics, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (China)

We report the detection of X-ray pulsations with a period of {approx}315.87 ms from the 2009 XMM-Newton observation for the radio-quiet {gamma}-ray pulsar, LAT PSR J0007+7303, centered in the supernova remnant CTA 1. The detected pulsed period is consistent with the {gamma}-ray periodicity at the same epoch found with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The broader sinusoidal structure in the folded light curve of the X-ray emission is dissimilar to that of the {gamma}-ray emission, and the phase of the peak is about 0.5 shifting from the peak in the {gamma}-ray bands, indicating that the main component of the X-rays originates from different sites of the pulsar. We conclude that the main component of the X-ray pulsation is contributed by the thermal emission from the neutron star. Although with a significantly different characteristic age, PSR J0007+7303 is similar to Geminga in emission properties of X-rays and {gamma}-rays; this makes PSR J0007+7303 the second radio-quiet {gamma}-ray pulsar with detected X-ray pulsations after Geminga.

• OSTI ID: 21454925
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 725; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EMISSION
GAMMA RADIATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
NEUTRON STARS
PERIODICITY
PHOTON EMISSION
PULSARS
RADIATIONS
STARS
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
TELESCOPES
THERMAL RADIATION
VARIATIONS
X RADIATION