DISCOVERY OF AN ENERGETIC PULSAR ASSOCIATED WITH SNR G76.9+1.0

Journal Article · Tue Sep 20 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/739/1/39; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21587500

Arzoumanian, Z ^[1]; Gotthelf, E V ^[2]; Ransom, S M ^[3]; Safi-Harb, S ^[4]; Kothes, R

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1. Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology and X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
2. Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
3. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22901 (United States)
4. Canada Research Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2 (Canada)

We report the discovery of PSR J2022+3842, a 24 ms radio and X-ray pulsar in the supernova remnant G76.9+1.0, in observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Radio Telescope, and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The pulsar's spin-down rate implies a rotation-powered luminosity E-dot = 1.2x10{sup 38} erg s{sup -1}, a surface dipole magnetic field strength B{sub s} = 1.0 x 10{sup 12} G, and a characteristic age of 8.9 kyr. PSR J2022+3842 is thus the second-most energetic Galactic pulsar known, after the Crab pulsar, as well as the most rapidly rotating young, radio-bright pulsar known. The radio pulsations are highly dispersed and broadened by interstellar scattering, and we find that a large ({delta}f/f {approx} 1.9 x 10{sup -6}) spin glitch must have occurred between our discovery and confirmation observations. The X-ray pulses are narrow (0.06 cycles FWHM) and visible up to 20 keV, consistent with magnetospheric emission from a rotation-powered pulsar. The Chandra X-ray image identifies the pulsar with a hard, unresolved source at the midpoint of the double-lobed radio morphology of G76.9+1.0 and embedded within faint, compact X-ray nebulosity. The spatial relationship of the X-ray and radio emissions is remarkably similar to the extended structure seen around the Vela pulsar. The combined Chandra and RXTE pulsar spectrum is well fitted by an absorbed power-law model with column density N{sub H} = (1.7 {+-} 0.3) x 10{sup 22} cm{sup -2} and photon index {Gamma} = 1.0 {+-} 0.2; this implies that the Chandra point-source flux is virtually 100% pulsed. For a distance of 10 kpc, the X-ray luminosity of PSR J2022+3842 is L{sub X}(2-10 keV) = 7.0 x 10{sup 33} erg s{sup -1}. Despite being extraordinarily energetic, PSR J2022+3842 lacks a bright X-ray wind nebula and has an unusually low conversion efficiency of spin-down power to X-ray luminosity, L{sub X}/ E-dot = 5.9x10{sup -5}.

• OSTI ID: 21587500
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 739; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EMISSION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
PULSARS
RADIATIONS
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
SPIN
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
X RADIATION