2002/07/01 by N. Bucciantini · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #High-pressure geophysics and materials #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020968
published as Astron.Astrophys. 393 (2002) 629-636 · 8 pages, Latex, 9 Encapsulated PostScript figures, accepted for public ation in A&A
arxiv created 2002/07/01 · openalex publication_date 2002/09/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The interaction of the wind from a pulsar (or more generally from a star) with the ambient medium gives rise to the formation of a bow-shock nebula. We present a model of adiabatic bow-shock nebulae, including the presence of a neutral component in the interstellar medium. As demonstrated in a previous paper (Bucciantini & Bandiera [CITE], hereafter Paper I), the velocity and the luminosity of the pulsar, as well as the characteristics of the interstellar medium (ISM), play an essential role in determining the properties of bow shock nebulae. In particular, the Balmer emission is strongly affected by the rates of hydrogen charge-exchange and collisional excitation. So far, only one-component models have been proposed, treating the neutrals as a small perturbation. The distribution of neutral hydrogen in the nebula, derived by our model, is then used to determine how the Hα luminosity varies along the bow shock. We find that the luminosity trend is different for charge-exchange and collisional excitation, and that processes like diffusion or ionization may reduce the emission in the head of the nebula.