Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) produced from supersonic runaway pulsars can render extended X-ray structures in the form of tails and prominent jets. In this Letter we report on the analysis of $\sim$130 ks observations of the PWN around PSR$\,$J1135-6055 obtained with the Chandra satellite. The system displays bipolar jet-like structures of uncertain origin, a compact nebula around the pulsar likely formed by the bow shock ahead of it, and a trailing tail produced by the pulsar fast proper motion. The spectral and morphological properties of these structures reveal strong similarities with the PWNe in other runaway pulsars like PSR J1509-5850 and Geminga. We discuss their physical origin considering both canonical PWN and jet formation models as well as alternative scenarios that can also yield extended jet-like features following the escape of high-energy particles into the ambient magnetic field.
We have investigated the pulsar PSR B2224+65 and its X-ray jet with XMM-Newton. Apart from the long X-ray jet which is almost perpendicular to the direction of proper motion, a putative extended feature at the pulsar position, which oriented in the opposite direction of the proper motion, is also suggested by this deep X-ray imaging. Non-detection of any coherent X-ray pulsation disfavors the magnetospheric origin of the X-rays observed from the position of PSR B2224+65 and hence suggest that the interpretation of pulsar wind nebula is more viable. We have also probed the origin of PSR B2224+6…
Aims: PSR J0855-4644 is a fast-spinning, energetic pulsar discovered at radio wavelengths near the south-eastern rim of the supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622. A follow-up observation revealed the pulsar's X-ray counterpart and a slightly asymmetric PWN suggesting possible jet structures. PSR J0855-4644 is a pulsar with one of the highest \dot{E}/d^{2} from which no GeV γ-ray pulsations have been detected. Methods: With a dedicated Chandra observation, we perform detailed spatial modelling to constrain the geometry of the PWN, in particular the pulsar's line of sight ζ_{\rm PSR}. We also perfor…
Recently, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) measured the three-dimensional velocity of PSR J0538+2817 in its associated supernova remnant S147 and found a possible spin-velocity alignment in this pulsar. Here we show that the high velocity and the spin-velocity alignment in this pulsar can be explained by the so-called electromagnetic rocket mechanism. In this framework, the pulsar is kicked in the direction of the spin axis, which naturally explains the spin-velocity alignment. We scrutinize the evolution of this pulsar and show that the pulsar kick can create a…
We have obtained a deep 670 ks CXO ACIS image of the remarkable pulsar wind nebula (PWN) of PSR J1709-4429, in 4 epochs during 2018-2019. Comparison with an archival 2004 data set provides a pulsar proper motion mu = 13 \pm 3 mas/yr at a PA of 86 \pm 9 degree (1 sigma combined statistical and systematic uncertainties), precluding birth near the center of SNR G343.1-2.3. At the pulsar's characteristic age of 17 kyr, the association can be preserved through a combination of progenitor wind, birth kick and PWN outflow. Associated TeV emission may, however, indicate explosion in an earlier superno…
The Cygnus\,OB2 region, $\sim 3.5-5~\text{Myr}$ old, contains one of the most significant populations of massive stars of the Milky Way. Such stars substantially contribute to producing large scale soft ($<2~\text{keV}$) diffuse X-ray emission. We also detected hard ($>3~\text{keV}$) diffuse X-ray emission in the direction of the pulsar PSR\,J2032+4127. The torus-shaped emission spans a $\approx 3'\times 2'$ jet-like structure. It is spatially coincident with the Fermi $γ$-ray source 4FGL\,J2032.3+4127. We suggest that the hard diffuse X-ray emission is the pulsar wind nebula bearing the pulsa…
PSR J1809-1917 is a young ($τ=51$ kyr) energetic ($\dot{E}=1.8\times10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$) radio pulsar powering a pulsar wind nebula (PWN). We report on the results of three Chandra X-ray Observatory observations which show that the PWN consists of a small ($\sim 20''$) bright compact nebula (CN) and faint extended emission seen up to $2'$ from the pulsar. The CN is elongated in the northeast-southwest direction and exhibits morphological and flux variability on a timescale of a few months. We also find evidence of small arcsecond-scale jets extending from the pulsar along the same direction,…
We report the detection of the pulsed signal of the radio-quiet magnetar-like pulsar PSR J1846-0258 in the high-energy \gr-ray data of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi LAT). We produced phase-coherent timing models exploiting RXTE PCA and Swift XRT monitoring data for the post- (magnetar-like) outburst period from 2007 August 28 to 2016 September 4, with independent verification using INTEGRAL ISGRI and Fermi GBM data. Phase-folding barycentric arrival times of selected Fermi LAT events from PSR J1846-0258, resulted in a 4.2 sigma detection (30--100 MeV) of a broad pulse consistent in sha…
We discuss X-ray and gamma-ray emissions from Crab-like pulsars, PSRs~J0537-6910 and~J0540-6919, in Large Magellanic Cloud. Fermi-LAT observations have resolved the gamma-ray emissions from these two pulsars and found the pulsed emissions from PSR~J0540-6919. The total pulsed radiation in the X-ray/gamma-ray energy bands of PSR~J0540-6919 is observed with the efficiency $η_{J0540}\sim 0.06$ (in 4$π$ sr), which is about a factor of ten larger than $η_{Crab}\sim 0.006$ of the Crab pulsar. Although PSR~J0537-6910 has the highest spin-down power among currently known pulsars, the efficiency of the…
In this paper, we report a detailed investigation of the multiwavelength properties of a newly detected gamma-ray pulsar, PSR J2021+4026, in both observational and theoretical aspects. We firstly identify an X-ray source in the XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue, 2XMM J202131.0+402645, located within the 95% confidence circle of PSR J2021+4026. With an archival Chandra observation, this identification provides an X-ray position with arcsecond accuracy which is helpful in facilitating further investigations. Searching for the pulsed radio emission at the position of 2XMM J202131.0+402645…
Two energetic hard X-ray bursts have recently triggered the Fermi and Swift space observatories from the rotation powered pulsar, PSR J1119-6127. We have performed in depth spectral and temporal analyses of these two events. Our extensive searches in both observatory data for lower luminosity bursts uncovered 10 additional events from the source. We report here on the timing and energetics of the 12 bursts from PSR J1119-6127 during its burst active phase of 2016 July 26 and 28. We also found a spectral softer X-ray flux enhancement in a post burst episode, which shows evidence of cooling. We …
Rotational glitches in some rotation-powered pulsars display power-law size and exponential waiting time distributions. These statistics are consistent with a state-dependent Poisson process, where the glitch rate is an increasing function of a global stress variable (e.g. crust-superfluid angular velocity lag), diverges at a threshold stress, increases smoothly while the star spins down, and decreases step-wise at each glitch. A minimal, seven-parameter, maximum likelihood model is calculated for PSR J1740-3015, PSR J0534+2200, and PSR J0631+1036, the three objects with the largest samples wh…
A mysterious X-ray-emitting object has been detected moving away from the high-mass gamma-ray binary PSR B1259-63, which contains a non-accreting pulsar and a Be star whose winds collide forming a complex interaction structure. Given the strong eccentricity of this binary, the interaction structure should be strongly anisotropic, which together with the complex evolution of the shocked winds, could explain the origin of the observed moving X-ray feature. We propose here that a fast outflow made of a pulsar-stellar wind mixture is always present moving away from the binary in the apastron direc…
We report the discovery of X-ray periodicity of ~265.3 ms from a deep XMM-Newton observation of the radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar, PSR J2021+4026, located at the edge of the supernova remnant G78.2+2.1 (gamma-Cygni).The detected frequency is consistent with the gamma-ray pulsation determined by the observation of Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope at the same epoch. The X-ray pulse profile resembles the modulation of hot spot on the surface of the neutron star. The phase-averaged spectral analysis also suggests that the majority of the observed X-rays have a thermal origin. This is the third membe…
We present the first optical polarimetric study of the two transitional pulsars PSR J1023+0038 and XSS J12270-4859. This work is focused on the search for intrinsical linear polarisation (LP) in the optical emission from the two systems. We carried out multiband optical and NIR photo-polarimetry of the two systems using the ESO NTT at La Silla (Chile), equipped with the EFOSC2 and the SOFI instruments. XSS J12270-4859 was observed during its radio-pulsar state; we did not detect LP in all bands, with 3 sigma upper limits of, e.g., 1.4% in the R-band. We built the NIR-optical averaged spectral …
We analyzed a deep {\it XMM-Newton} observation of the radio-quiet $γ$-ray PSR J2055+2539. The spectrum of the X-ray counterpart is non-thermal, with a photon index of $Γ$=2.36$\pm$0.14 (1$σ$ confidence). We detected X-ray pulsations with a pulsed fraction of (25$\pm$3)\% and a sinusoidal shape. Taking into account considerations on the $γ$-ray efficiency of the pulsar and on its X-ray spectrum, we can infer a pulsar distance ranging from 450 pc to 750 pc. We found two different nebular features associated to PSR J2055+2539 and protruding from it. The angle between the two nebular main axes is…
We describe new measurements of the remarkable H$α$/UV/X-ray bowshock and pulsar wind nebula of the isolated millisecond pulsar PSR J2124$-$3358. {\it CXO} imaging shows a one-sided jet structure with a softer equatorial outflow. KOALA IFU spectroscopy shows that non-radiative emission dominates the bow shock and that the H$α$ nebula is asymmetric about the pulsar velocity with an elongation into the plane of the sky. We extend analytic models of the contact discontinuity to accommodate such shapes and compare these to the data. Using {\it HST} UV detections of the pulsar and bow shock, radio …
We present a Chandra Director's Discretionary Time observation of PSR J1119-6127 and its compact X-ray pulsar wind nebula (PWN) obtained on 27 October 2016, three months after the Fermi and Swift detection of millisecond bursts in hard X-rays, accompanied by >160 times increase in flux. This magnetar-like activity, the first observed from a rotation-powered radio pulsar, provides an important probe of the physical processes that differentiate radio pulsars from magnetars. The post-burst X-ray spectrum of the pulsar can be described by a single powerlaw model with a photon index of 2.0\pm0.2 an…
This work reports on the discovery of HESS J1514-591, a VHE gamma-ray source found at the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) MSH 15-52 and its associated pulsar PSR B1509-58. The discovery was made with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), which currently provides the most sensitive measurement in the energy range of about 0.2-100 TeV. This analysis is the first to include all H.E.S.S. data from observations dedicated to MSH 15-52. The corresponding flux above 1 TeV is (4.4+/-0.2stat+/-1.0syst) x 10^{-12}cm^{-2}s^{-1}. The energy spectrum obeys a power-law with a differential flux at 1 TeV of…
NICER observed several rotation-powered millisecond pulsars to search for or confirm the presence of X-ray pulsations. When broad and sine-like, these pulsations may indicate thermal emission from hot polar caps at the magnetic poles on the neutron star surface. We report confident detections ($\ge4.7σ$ after background filtering) of X-ray pulsations for five of the seven pulsars in our target sample: PSR J0614-3329, PSR J0636+5129, PSR J0751+1807, PSR J1012+5307, and PSR J2241-5236, while PSR J1552+5437 and PSR J1744-1134 remain undetected. Of those, only PSR J0751+1807 and PSR J1012+5307 had…
PSR B1706$-$44 is an energetic gamma-ray pulsar located inside supernova remnant (SNR) G343.1$-$2.3 and it powers a compact pulsar wind nebula (PWN) that shows torus and jet structure in X-rays. We present a radio study of the PWN using Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) observations at 3, 6, 13, and 21\,cm. We found an overall arc-like morphology at 3 and 6\,cm, and the ``arc" shows two distinct peaks at 6\,cm. The radio emission is faint inside the X-ray PWN and only brightens beyond that. We develop a thick torus model with Doppler boosting effect to explain the radio PWN structure. T…
Point-like Off-pulse GeV Emission from the Millisecond Pulsar PSR J0437-4715
Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University(汤川研究所,上海交通大学);State Key Laboratory of Dark Matter Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University(暗物质物理全国重点实验室,上海交通大学)
We present X-ray observations of the "redback" eclipsing radio millisecond pulsar and candidate radio pulsar/X-ray binary transition object PSR J1723-2837. The X-ray emission from the system is predominantly non-thermal and exhibits pronounced variability as a function of orbital phase, with a factor of ~2 reduction in brightness around superior conjunction. Such temporal behavior appears to be a defining characteristic of this variety of peculiar millisecond pulsar binaries and is likely caused by a partial geometric occultation by the main-sequence-like companion of a shock within the binary…
We report on the latest discovery of an extended Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray source near the 67 ms pulsar PSR J1831-0952 during the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey (GPS). The dispersion measure distance of the pulsar (4.3 kpc) would imply that less than 1% of its spin-down energy is required to provide the observed VHE luminosity of the source. No other plausible counterparts have yet been found through preliminary multi- wavelength searches. The most likely scenario is that the VHE emission originates from the -yet unseen at other wavelengths-wind nebula of PSR J1831-0952. If so this woul…
The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) discovered the time signature of a radio-silent pulsar coincident with RX J0007.0+7302, a plerion-like X-ray source at the centre of the CTA 1 supernova remnant. The inferred timing parameters of the gamma-ray pulsar PSR J0007+7303 (P=315.8 ms; dot{P}\sim3.6 10^{-13} s s^{-1}) point to a Vela-like neutron star, with an age comparable to that of CTA 1. The PSR J0007+7303 low distance (\sim 1.4 kpc), interstellar absorption (A_V\sim 1.6), and relatively high energy loss rate (dot{E} \sim4.5 10^{35} erg s^{-1}), make it a suitable candidate for an optical foll…
PSR J1119-6127 is a radio pulsar that behaved magnetar like bursts, and we performed a comprehensive investigation of this pulsar using the archival high-energy observations obtained after its outburst in 2016 July. After the 2016 outburst, specific regions on the neutron star surface were heated up to > 0.3 and > 1 keV from about 0.2 keV. A hard non-thermal spectral component with a photon index < 0.5 related to the magnetospheric emission can be resolved from the NuSTAR spectra above 10 keV. We find that the thermal emitting regions did not cool down and gradually shrank by about (20-35)% fo…
Average radio pulse profile of a pulsar B in a double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039A/B exhibits an interesting behaviour. During the observation period between 2003 and 2009, the profile evolves from a single-peaked to a double-peaked form, following disappearance in 2008 indicating that the geodetic precession of the pulsar is a possible origin of such behaviour. The known pulsar beam models can be used to determine the geometry of PSR J0737-3039B in the context of the precession. We study how the fan-beam geometry performs in explaining the observed variations of the radio profile morphology.…
We report the detection of gamma-ray pulsations (> 0.1 GeV) from PSR J2229+6114 and PSR J1048-5832, the latter having been detected as a low-significance pulsar by EGRET. Data in the gamma-ray band were acquired by the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, while the radio rotational ephemerides used to fold the gamma-ray light curves were obtained using the Green Bank Telescope, the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank, and the Parkes telescope. The two young radio pulsars, located within the error circles of the previously unidentified EGRET sources 3EG J1048-5840 and 3…
We present an analysis of archival Gemini g', r', K and Keck H, K_s imaging of this nearby short period binary (P_B=95.8min) 2.87ms pulsar. The heated companion is clearly detected. Direct pulsar heating provides an acceptable model at the revised >700pc parallax distance. The relatively shallow light curve modulation prefers an inclination i<40deg; this high latitude view provides a likely explanation for the lack of radio signatures of wind dispersion or eclipse. It also explains the low minimum companion mass and, possibly, the faintness of the source in X- and gamma-rays.
The vicinity of the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1420-6038 has undergone extensive study in the search for counterparts, revealing the energetic young pulsar PSR J1420-6048 and its surrounding wind nebula as a likely candidate for at least part of the emission from this bright and extended gamma-ray source. We report on new Suzaku observations of PSR J1420-6048, along with analysis of archival XMM Newton data. The low background of Suzaku permits mapping of the extended X-ray nebula, indicating a tail stretching ~8' north of the pulsar. The X-ray data, along with archival radio and VHE data,…
We report on the 2020 reactivation of the energetic high-magnetic field pulsar PSR J1846-0258 and its pulsar wind nebula (PWN) after 14 years of quiescence with new Chandra and Green Bank Telescope observations. The emission of short-duration bursts from J1846-0258 was accompanied by an enhancement of X-ray persistent flux and significant spectral softening, similar to those observed during its first bursting episode in 2006. The 2020 pulsar spectrum is described by a powerlaw model with a photon index Gamma=1.7\pm0.3 in comparison to a Gamma=1.2\pm0.1 before outburst and shows evidence of an …
We present the X-ray survey results of high-magnetic-field radio pulsars (high-B PSRs) with Swift/XRT. X-ray observations of the rotation-powered pulsars with the dipole magnetic field ${\it B_{\rm d}}$ near the quantum critical field ${\it B_{\rm q}}=4.4\times10^{13}$ G is of great importance for understanding the transition between the rotation-powered pulsars and the magnetars, because there are a few objects that have magnetar-like properties. Out of the 27 high-B PSRs that are in the ATNF pulsar catalogue but have not been reported or have no effective upper-limits in the X-ray bands, we …
Observations obtained in the last years challenged the widespread notion that rotation-powered neutron stars are steady X-ray emitters. Besides a few allegedly rotation-powered neutron stars that showed "magnetar-like" variability, a particularly interesting case is that of PSR B0943+10. Recent observations have shown that this pulsar, well studied in the radio band where it alternates between a bright and a quiescent mode, displays significant X-ray variations, anticorrelated in flux with the radio emission. The study of such synchronous radio/X-ray mode switching opens a new window to invest…
We present the results of the analysis of 8 years of Fermi-LAT data of the pulsar/pulsar wind nebula complex PSR J0205+6449/3C 58. Using a contemporaneous ephemeris, we carried out a detailed analysis of PSR J0205+6449 both during its off-peak and on-peak phase intervals. 3C 58 is significantly detected during the off-peak phase interval. We show that the spectral energy distribution at high energies is the same disregarding the phases considered, and thus that this part of the spectrum is most likely dominated by the nebula radiation. We present results of theoretical models of the nebula and…
We present the spin frequency and profile evolution of the radio pulsar J1119$-$6127 following magnetar-like X-ray bursts from the system in 2016 July. Using data from the Parkes radio telescope, we observe a smooth and fast spin-down process subsequent to the X-ray bursts resulting in a net change in the pulsar rotational frequency of $Δν\approx-4\times10^{-4}$\,Hz. During the transition, a net spin-down rate increase of $Δ\dotν\approx-1\times10^{-10}$\,Hz\,s$^{-1}$ is observed, followed by a return of $\dotν$ to its original value. In addition, the radio pulsations disappeared after the X-ra…
We report our analysis results for the globular cluster (GC) NGC~6341 (M92), as a millisecond pulsar (MSP) J1717$+$4308A has recently been reported found in this GC. The data used are from the Large Area Telescope onboard the {\it Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi)}. We detect $γ$-ray pulsations of the MSP at a $4.4σ$ confidence level (the corresponding weighted H-test value is $\sim$28.4). This MSP, the fourth $γ$-ray pulsar found in a GC, does not have significant off-pulse emission and has $γ$-ray luminosity and efficiency $1.3\times10^{34}$\,erg\,s$^{-1}$ and 1.7\% respectively. In or…
PSR J1809-1917 is a young ($τ=51$ kyr) energetic ($\dot{E}=1.8\times10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$) radio pulsar powering an X-ray pulsar wind nebula (PWN) that exhibits morphological variability. We report on the results of a new monitoring campaign by the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), carried out across 6 epochs with a $\sim$7-week cadence. The compact nebula can be interpreted as a jet-dominated outflow along the pulsar's spin axis. Its variability can be the result of Doppler boosting in the kinked jet whose shape changes with time (akin to the Vela pulsar jet). The deep X-ray image, composed of…
We present coordinated Chandra X-ray Observatory and Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 in its low-luminosity accreting state. The unprecedented five hours of strictly simultaneous X-ray and radio continuum coverage for the first time unambiguously show a highly reproducible, anti-correlated variability pattern. The characteristic switches from the X-ray high mode into a low mode are always accompanied by a radio brightening with duration that closely matches the X-ray low mode interval. This behavior cannot be explained by a cano…
We present a detailed analysis of broadband X-ray observations of the pulsar PSR J1420-6048 and its wind nebula (PWN) in the Kookaburra region with Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR. Using the archival XMM-Newton and new NuSTAR data, we detected 68 ms pulsations of the pulsar and characterized its X-ray pulse profile which exhibits a sharp spike and a broad bump separated by ~0.5 in phase. A high-resolution Chandra image revealed a complex morphology of the PWN: a torus-jet structure, a few knots around the torus, one long (~7') and two short tails extending in the northwest direction, and a bri…
By analysing the data acquired from the Parkes 64-m radio telescope at 1369 MHz, we report on the phase-stationary non-drift amplitude modulation observed in PSR J1048-5832. The high-sensitivity observations revealed that the central and trailing components of the pulse profile of this pulsar switch between a strong mode and a weak mode periodically. However, the leading component remains unchanged. Polarization properties of the strong and weak modes are investigated. Considering the similarity to mode changing, we argue that the periodic amplitude modulation in PSR J1048$-$5832 is periodic m…
We carried out deep optical observations of the middle-aged $γ$-ray pulsar PSR J1741-2054 with the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We identified two objects, of magnitudes $m_v=23.10\pm0.05$ and $m_v=25.32\pm0.08$, at positions consistent with the very accurate Chandra coordinates of the pulsar, the faintest of which is more likely to be its counterpart. From the VLT images we also detected the known bow-shock nebula around PSR J1741-2054. The nebula is displaced by $\sim 0\farcs9$ (at the $3σ$ confidence level) with respect to its position measured in archival data, showing that the shock propaga…
We report detailed investigation of nulling and drifting behavior of two pulsars PSRs J1741-0840 and J1840-0840 observed from the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope at 625 MHz. PSR J1741-840 was found to show nulling fraction (NF) of around 30(5)% while PSR J1840-0840 was shown to have NF of around 50(6)%. We measured drifting behavior from different profile components in PSR J1840-0840 for the first time with the leading component showing drifting with 13.5(0.7) periods while the weak trailing component showed drifting of around 18(1) periods. Large nulling do hamper accuracy of these quantities…
PSR J1846-0258 is an object which straddles the boundary between magnetars and rotation powered pulsars. Though behaving for many years as a rotation-powered pulsar, in 2006, it exhibited distinctly magnetar-like behavior - emitting several short hard X-ray bursts, and a flux increase. Here we report on 7 years of post-outburst timing observations of PSR J1846-0258 using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and the Swift X-ray Telescope. We measure the braking index over the post-magnetar outburst period to be $n=2.19\pm0.03$. This represents a change of $Δn=-0.46\pm0.03$ or a 14.5$\;σ$ difference …
The ~1700 year old PSR B0540-69 in the LMC is considered the twin of the Crab pulsar because of its similar spin parameters, magnetic field, and energetics. Its optical spectrum is fit by a power-law, ascribed to synchrotron radiation, like for the young Crab and Vela pulsars. nIR observations, never performed for PSR B0540-69, are crucial to determine whether the optical power-law spectrum extends to longer wavelengths or a new break occurs, like it happens for both the Crab and Vela pulsars in the mIR, hinting at an even more complex particle energy and density distribution in the pulsar mag…
Aims. The goal of this paper is to detect synchrotron emission from the relic electrons of the crushed pulsar wind nebula (PWN) HESS J1825-137 and to investigate the origin of the $γ$-ray emission from HESS J1826-130.\\ Methods. The study of HESS J1825-137 was carried out on the basis of new radio observations centred at the position of PSR J1826-1334 performed with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at 1.4 GHz in configurations B and C. To investigate the nature of HESS J1826-130, we reprocessed unpublished archival data obtained with XMM-Newton.\\ Results. The new radio continuum image towa…
PSR B1259-63 is a middle-aged radio pulsar (P=48 ms, tau=330 kyr, Edot=8.3*10^{35} erg/s) in an eccentric binary (P_orb =3.4 yr, e=0.87) with a high-mass Be companion, SS 2883. We observed the binary near apastron with the Chandra ACIS detector on 2009 May 14 for 28 ks. In addition to the previously studied pointlike source at the pulsar's position, we detected extended emission on the south-southwest side of this source. The pointlike source spectrum can be described by the absorbed power-law model with the hydrogen column density N_H = (2.5+/-0.6)*10^{21} cm^{-2}, photon index Gamma = 1.6+/-…
PSR J2021+4026 is a radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar and the first pulsar that shows state change of the gamma-ray emission and spin-down rate. The state change of PSR J2021+4026 was first observed at 2011 October, at which the pulsar changes the state from high gamma-ray flux/low spin-down rate state to low gamma-ray flux/high spin-down rate st\ ate. In December 2014, PSR J2021+4026 recovered the state before the 2011 state change over a timescale of a few months. We report that the long term evolution of the gamma-ray flux and timing behavior suggests that PSR J2021+4026 changed the state near 2…
We have presented the first joint {\it XMM-Newton} and {\it NuSTAR} analysis of the millisecond pulsar (MSP) binary PSR J1653$-$0158. The 75-minute orbital period inferred from optical and gamma-ray observations together with the 1.97-ms pulsation in the gamma-rays indicate that this system is the most compact Black Widow MSP system known to date. The orbital period was not detected in the {\it XMM-Newton} and {\it NuSTAR} data, probably due to insufficient photon counts obtained in the observations. Fitting the joint X-ray spectrum of PSR J1653$-$0158 with a power law gives a photon index $Γ=…
PSR J1048-5832 is a Vela-like (P=123.6 ms; tau~20.3 kyr) gamma-ray pulsar detected by Fermi, at a distance of ~2.7 kpc and with a rotational energy loss rate dot{E}_{SD} ~2 x 10^{36} erg/s. The PSR J1048-5832 field has been observed with the VLT in the V and R bands. We used these data to determine the colour of the object detected closest to the Chandra position (Star D) and confirm that it is not associated with the pulsar. For the estimated extinction along the line of sight, inferred from a re-analysis of the Chandra and XMM-Newton spectra, the fluxes of Star D (V~26.7; R~25.8) imply a -0.…
Using observations made with the XMM-Newton Observatory, we report the probable X-ray detection of the high-magnetic-field radio pulsar PSR J1734-3333. This pulsar has an inferred surface dipole magnetic field of B = 5.2e13 G, just below that of one anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP). We find that the pulsar has an absorbed 0.5-2.0 keV flux of (5-15)e-15 erg/s/cm^2 and that its X-ray luminosity L_X is well below its spin down luminosity E_dot, with L_X < 0.1E_dot. No pulsations were detected in these data although our derived upper limit is unconstraining. Like most of the other high-B pulsars, PSR …
Recent measurements showed that the period derivative of the 'high-B' radio pulsar PSR J1734-3333 is increasing with time. For neutron stars evolving with fallback disks, this rotational behavior is expected in certain phases of the long-term evolution. Using the same model as employed earlier to explain the evolution of anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-ray repeaters, we show that the period, the first and second period derivatives and the X-ray luminosity of this source can simultaneously acquire the observed values for a neutron star evolving with a fallback disk. We find that the requ…
New simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the archetypal mode-switching pulsar PSR B0943+10 have been carried out with XMM-Newton and the LOFAR, LWA and Arecibo radio telescopes in November 2014. They allowed us to better constrain the X-ray spectral and variability properties of this pulsar and to detect, for the first time, the X-ray pulsations also during the X-ray-fainter mode. The combined timing and spectral analysis indicates that unpulsed non-thermal emission, likely of magnetospheric origin, and pulsed thermal emission from a small polar cap are present during both radio modes …
DAMPE observation on the cosmic ray electron spectrum hints a narrow excess at $\sim$ 1.4 TeV. Although the excess can be ascribed to dark matter particles, pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae are believed to be a more natural astrophysical origin: electrons injected from nearby pulsars at their early ages can form a bump-like feature in the spectrum due to radiative energy losses. In this paper, with a survey of nearby pulsars, we find 4 pulsars that may have notable contributions to $\sim$ 1.4 TeV cosmic ray electrons. Among them, PSR J0855$-$4644 has a spin down luminosity more than 50 times hi…
PSR J1357$-$6429 is a young and energetic radio pulsar detected in X-rays and $γ$-rays. It powers a compact pulsar wind nebula with a jet visible in X-rays and a large scale plerion detected in X-ray and TeV ranges. Previous multiwavelength studies suggested that the pulsar has a significant proper motion of about 180 mas yr$^{-1}$ implying an extremely high transverse velocity of about 2000 km s$^{-1}$. In order to verify that, we performed radio-interferometric observations of PSR J1357$-$6429 with the the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) in the 2.1 GHz band. We detected the pulsar w…