1999/06/30 by M. J. Pivovaroff, V. M. Kaspi, E. V. Gotthelf · 20 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Flux (metallurgy) #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Millisecond pulsar #Neutron star #Pulsar #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Supernova #Supernova remnant #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/308139
published in The Astrophysical Journal 528(1), 436-444 (IOP Publishing) · Accepted for publication in the ApJ (v.528, pp.436-444) Correcting typo in abstract of .tex file
openalex publication_date 2000/01/01 · arxiv created 2000/05/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present X-ray observations of two young energetic radio pulsars, PSRs B1046-58 and B1610-50, and their surroundings, using archival data from the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics ( ASCA ). The energetic pulsar PSR B1610-50 is detected in X-rays with a significance of 4.5 σ. The unabsorbed flux, estimated assuming a power-law spectrum and a neutral hydrogen column density N H of 5 × 10 21 cm -2 , is (2.5 ± 0.3) × 10 -13 ergs cm -2 s -1 in the 2-10 keV band. Pulsed emission is not detected; the pulsed fraction is less than 31% at the 90% confidence level for a 50% duty cycle. We argue that the emission is best explained as originating from a pulsar-powered synchrotron nebula. The X-ray counterpart of the pulsar is the only hard source within the 95% error region of the previously unidentified γ-ray source 3EG J1048-5840. This evidence supports the results of Kaspi et al., who suggest, in a companion paper, that PSR B1046-58 is the counterpart to 3EG J1048-5840. X-ray emission from PSR B1610-50 is not detected. Using assumptions similar to those above, the derived 3 σ upper limit for the unabsorbed 2-10 keV X-ray flux is 1.5 × 10 -13 ergs cm -2 s -1 . We use the flux limit to estimate the pulsar's velocity to be less than ~170 km s -1 , casting doubt on a previously reported association between PSR B1610-50 and supernova remnant Kes 32. Kes 32 is detected, as is evident from the correlation between X-ray and radio emission. The ASCA images of PSR B1610-50 are dominated by mirror-scattered emission from the X-ray-bright supernova remnant RCW 103, located 33' away. We find no evidence for extended emission around either pulsar, in contrast to previous reports of large nebulae surrounding both pulsars.