A Broadband X-Ray Study of the Rabbit Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by PSR J1418-6058
We report on broadband X-ray properties of the Rabbit pulsar wind nebula (PWN) associated with the pulsar PSR J1418−6058 using archival Chandra and XMM-Newton data, as well as a new NuSTAR observation. NuSTAR data above 10 keV allowed us to detect the 110 ms spin period of the pulsar, characterize i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acba0e |
| _version_ | 1797701953769177088 |
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| author | Jaegeun Park Chanho Kim Jooyun Woo Hongjun An Kaya Mori Stephen P. Reynolds Samar Safi-Harb |
| author_facet | Jaegeun Park Chanho Kim Jooyun Woo Hongjun An Kaya Mori Stephen P. Reynolds Samar Safi-Harb |
| author_sort | Jaegeun Park |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We report on broadband X-ray properties of the Rabbit pulsar wind nebula (PWN) associated with the pulsar PSR J1418−6058 using archival Chandra and XMM-Newton data, as well as a new NuSTAR observation. NuSTAR data above 10 keV allowed us to detect the 110 ms spin period of the pulsar, characterize its hard X-ray pulse profile, and resolve hard X-ray emission from the PWN after removing contamination from the pulsar and other overlapping point sources. The extended PWN was detected up to ∼20 keV and is described well by a power-law model with a photon index Γ ≈ 2. The PWN shape does not vary significantly with energy, and its X-ray spectrum shows no clear evidence of softening away from the pulsar. We modeled the spatial profile of X-ray spectra and broadband spectral energy distribution in the radio to TeV band to infer the physical properties of the PWN. We found that a model with low magnetic field strength ( B ∼ 10 μ G) and efficient diffusion ( D ∼ 10 ^27 cm ^2 s ^−1 ) fits the PWN data well. The extended hard X-ray and TeV emission, associated respectively with synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton scattering by relativistic electrons, suggest that particles are accelerated to very high energies (≳500 TeV), indicating that the Rabbit PWN is a Galactic PeVatron candidate. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:43:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9689f3d95f954a93b496a562fee658ce |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:43:07Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-9689f3d95f954a93b496a562fee658ce2023-09-03T09:30:41ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0194516610.3847/1538-4357/acba0eA Broadband X-Ray Study of the Rabbit Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by PSR J1418-6058Jaegeun Park0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9103-506XChanho Kim1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0226-9524Jooyun Woo2Hongjun An3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6389-9012Kaya Mori4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9709-5389Stephen P. Reynolds5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5365-5444Samar Safi-Harb6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6189-7665Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Chungbuk National University , Cheongju, 28644, Republic of Korea ; hjan@cbnu.ac.krDepartment of Astronomy and Space Science, Chungbuk National University , Cheongju, 28644, Republic of Korea ; hjan@cbnu.ac.krColumbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , New York, NY 10027, USADepartment of Astronomy and Space Science, Chungbuk National University , Cheongju, 28644, Republic of Korea ; hjan@cbnu.ac.krColumbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , New York, NY 10027, USAPhysics Department, NC State University , Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba , Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, CanadaWe report on broadband X-ray properties of the Rabbit pulsar wind nebula (PWN) associated with the pulsar PSR J1418−6058 using archival Chandra and XMM-Newton data, as well as a new NuSTAR observation. NuSTAR data above 10 keV allowed us to detect the 110 ms spin period of the pulsar, characterize its hard X-ray pulse profile, and resolve hard X-ray emission from the PWN after removing contamination from the pulsar and other overlapping point sources. The extended PWN was detected up to ∼20 keV and is described well by a power-law model with a photon index Γ ≈ 2. The PWN shape does not vary significantly with energy, and its X-ray spectrum shows no clear evidence of softening away from the pulsar. We modeled the spatial profile of X-ray spectra and broadband spectral energy distribution in the radio to TeV band to infer the physical properties of the PWN. We found that a model with low magnetic field strength ( B ∼ 10 μ G) and efficient diffusion ( D ∼ 10 ^27 cm ^2 s ^−1 ) fits the PWN data well. The extended hard X-ray and TeV emission, associated respectively with synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton scattering by relativistic electrons, suggest that particles are accelerated to very high energies (≳500 TeV), indicating that the Rabbit PWN is a Galactic PeVatron candidate.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acba0eHigh-energy astrophysicsPulsar wind nebulaeRotation-powered pulsarsSpectral energy distributionAstronomy data analysisGamma-ray sources |
| spellingShingle | Jaegeun Park Chanho Kim Jooyun Woo Hongjun An Kaya Mori Stephen P. Reynolds Samar Safi-Harb A Broadband X-Ray Study of the Rabbit Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by PSR J1418-6058 The Astrophysical Journal High-energy astrophysics Pulsar wind nebulae Rotation-powered pulsars Spectral energy distribution Astronomy data analysis Gamma-ray sources |
| title | A Broadband X-Ray Study of the Rabbit Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by PSR J1418-6058 |
| title_full | A Broadband X-Ray Study of the Rabbit Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by PSR J1418-6058 |
| title_fullStr | A Broadband X-Ray Study of the Rabbit Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by PSR J1418-6058 |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Broadband X-Ray Study of the Rabbit Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by PSR J1418-6058 |
| title_short | A Broadband X-Ray Study of the Rabbit Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by PSR J1418-6058 |
| title_sort | broadband x ray study of the rabbit pulsar wind nebula powered by psr j1418 6058 |
| topic | High-energy astrophysics Pulsar wind nebulae Rotation-powered pulsars Spectral energy distribution Astronomy data analysis Gamma-ray sources |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acba0e |
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