2003/01/11 by Marjorie Gonzalez, Samar Safi-Harb · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/368122
published as Astrophys.J. 583 (2003) L91-L94 · 5 pages, 3 figures. To appear in ApJL, Feb 1 2003 (submitted Oct 9 2002, accepted Dec 19 2002)
arxiv created 2003/01/11 · openalex publication_date 2003/01/17 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We present spatially resolved spectroscopy of the supernova remnant (SNR) G292.0+1.8 with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory . This composite-type SNR contains the 135 ms pulsar, J1124-5916, recently discovered by Camilo and coworkers. We apply nonequilibrium ionization models to fit the ejecta-dominated regions and to identify the blast wave of the supernova explosion. By comparing the derived abundances with those predicted from nucleosynthesis models, we estimate a progenitor mass of 30-40 M ☉ . We derive the intrinsic parameters of the supernova explosion such as its energy, the age of the SNR, the blast wave velocity, and the swept-up mass. In the Sedov interpretation, our estimated SNR age of 2600 yr is close to the pulsar's characteristic age of 2900 yr. This confirms the pulsar/SNR association and relaxes the need for the pulsar to have a noncanonical value for the braking index, a large period at birth, or a large transverse velocity. We discuss the properties of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) in the light of the Kennel & Coroniti model and estimate the pulsar wind magnetization parameter. We also report the first evidence for steepening of the power-law spectral index with increasing radius from the pulsar, a result that is expected from synchrotron losses and is reminiscent of Crab-like PWNe.