Abstract
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 bright diffuse emission region to the south. Spatially integrated Chandra and NuSTAR spectra of the PWN out to 2.′5 are well-described by a power-law model with a photon index Γ ≈ 2. A spatially resolved spectroscopic study, as well as NuSTAR radial profiles of the 3–7 keV and 7–20 keV brightness, showed a hint of spectral softening with increasing distance from the pulsar. A multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) of the source was then obtained by supplementing our X-ray measurements with published radio, Fermi-LAT, and H.E.S.S. data. The SED and radial variations of the X-ray spectrum were fit with a leptonic multizone emission model. Our detailed study of the PWN may be suggestive of (1) particle transport dominated by advection, (2) a low magnetic-field strength (
B
∼ 5
μ
G), and (3) electron acceleration to ∼PeV energies.
Abstract
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.
Abstract
We studied the PeVatron nature of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) G75.2+0.1 (“Dragonfly”) as part of our NuSTAR observational campaign of energetic PWNe. The Dragonfly is spatially coincident ...with LHAASO J2018+3651, whose maximum photon energy is 0.27 PeV. We detected a compact (radius
1
′
) inner nebula of the Dragonfly without a spectral break in 3–20 keV using NuSTAR. A joint analysis of the inner nebula with archival Chandra and XMM-Newton (XMM) observations yields a power-law spectrum with Γ = 1.49 ± 0.03. Synchrotron burnoff is observed from the shrinkage of the NuSTAR nebula at higher energies, from which we infer the magnetic field in the inner nebula of 24
μ
G at 3.5 kpc. Our analysis of archival XMM data and 13 yr of Fermi-LAT data confirms the detection of an extended (
∼
10
′
) outer nebula in 2–6 keV (Γ = 1.82 ± 0.03) and the nondetection of a GeV nebula, respectively. Using the VLA, XMM, and HAWC data, we modeled a multiwavelength spectral energy distribution of the Dragonfly as a leptonic PeVatron. The maximum injected particle energy of 1.4 PeV from our model suggests that the Dragonfly is likely a PeVatron. Our model prediction of the low magnetic field (2.7
μ
G) in the outer nebula and recent interaction with the host supernova remnant’s reverse shock (4 kyr ago) align with common features of PeVatron PWNe. The origin of its highly asymmetric morphology, pulsar proper motion, PWN–supernova remnant (SNR) interaction, and source distance will require further investigations in the future, including a multiwavelength study using radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray observations.
Abstract
We report on the X-ray emission properties of the pulsar PSR J1849−0001 and its wind nebula (PWN), as measured by Chandra, XMM-Newton, NICER, Swift, and NuSTAR. In the X-ray data, we ...detected the 38 ms pulsations of the pulsar up to ∼60 keV with high significance. Additionally, we found that the pulsar's on-pulse spectral energy distribution displays significant curvature, peaking at ≈60 keV. Comparing the phase-averaged and on-pulse spectra of the pulsar, we found that the pulsar's off-pulse emission exhibits a spectral shape that is very similar to its on-pulse emission. This characterization of the off-pulse emission enabled us to measure the >10 keV spectrum of the faint and extended PWN using NuSTAR's off-pulse data. We measured both the X-ray spectrum and the radial profiles of the PWN’s brightness and photon index, and we combined these X-ray measurements with published TeV results. We then employed a multizone emission scenario to model the broadband data. The results of the modeling suggest that the magnetic field within the PWN is relatively low (≈7
μ
G) and that electrons are accelerated to energies ≳400 TeV within this PWN. The electrons responsible for the TeV emission outside the X-ray PWN may propagate to ∼30 pc from the pulsar in ∼10 kyr.
Abstract
We present an investigation of the quiescent and transient X-ray binaries (XRBs) of the Galactic Center (GC). We extended our Chandra analysis of the non-thermal X-ray sources, located in ...the central parsec, from Hailey et al. (2018), using an additional 4.6 Msec of ACIS-S data obtained in 2012–2018. The individual Chandra spectra of the 12 sources fit to an absorbed power-law model with a mean photon index Γ ≈ 2 and show no Fe emission lines. Long-term variability was detected from nine of them, confirming that a majority are quiescent XRBs. Frequent X-ray monitoring of the GC revealed that the 12 non-thermal X-ray sources, as well as four X-ray transients have shown at most a single outburst over the last two decades. They are distinct from the six known neutron star LMXBs in the GC, which have all undergone multiple outbursts with ≲ 5 year recurrence time on average. Based on the outburst history data of the broader population of X-ray transients, we conclude that the 16 sources represent a population of ∼240–630 tightly bound BH-LMXBs with ∼4−12 hr orbital periods, consistent with the stellar/binary dynamics modeling in the vicinity of Sgr A*. The distribution of the 16 BH-LMXB candidates is disk-like (at 87% CL) and aligned with the nuclear star cluster. Our results have implications for XRB formation and the rate of gravitational wave events in other galactic nuclei.
ABSTRACT Recently, unresolved hard (20-40 keV) X-ray emission has been discovered within the central 10 pc of the Galaxy, possibly indicating a large population of intermediate polars (IPs). Chandra ...and XMM-Newton measurements in the surrounding ∼50 pc imply a much lighter population of IPs with . Here we use broadband NuSTAR observations of two IPs: TV Columbae, which has a fairly typical but widely varying reported mass of - , and IGR J17303-0601, with a heavy reported mass of - . We investigate how varying spectral models and observed energy ranges influences estimated white dwarf mass. Observations of the inner 10 pc can be accounted for by IPs with , consistent with that of the CV population in general and the X-ray observed field IPs in particular. The lower mass derived by Chandra and XMM-Newton appears to be an artifact of narrow energy-band fitting. To explain the (unresolved) central hard X-ray emission (CHXE) by IPs requires an X-ray (2-8 keV) luminosity function (XLF) extending down to at least 5 × 1031 erg s−1. The CHXE XLF, if extended to the surrounding ∼50 pc observed by Chandra and XMM-Newton, requires that at least ∼20%-40% of the ∼9000 point sources are IPs. If the XLF extends just a factor of a few lower in luminosity, then the vast majority of these sources are IPs. This is in contrast to recent observations of the Galactic ridge, where the bulk of the 2-8 keV emission is ascribed to non-magnetic CVs.
Abstract
We report timing and broadband spectral analysis of a Galactic X-ray source, CXOGBS J174517.0−321356 (J1745), with a 614 s periodicity. Chandra discovered the source in the direction of the ...Galactic Bulge. Gong proposed that J1745 was either an intermediate polar (IP) with a mass of ∼1
M
⊙
, or an ultracompact X-ray binary (UCXB). To confirm J1745's nature, we jointly fit XMM-Newton and NuSTAR spectra, ruling out a UCXB origin. We have developed a physically realistic model that considers a finite magnetosphere radius, X-ray absorption from the preshock region, and reflection from the white-dwarf (WD) surface to properly determine the IP properties, especially its WD mass. To assess systematic errors on the WD mass measurement, we consider a broad range of specific accretion rates (
m
̇
=
0.6
–
44
g cm
−2
s
−1
) based on the uncertain source distance (
d
= 3–8 kpc) and fractional accretion area (
f
= 0.001–0.025). Our model properly implements the fitted accretion column height in the X-ray reflection model and accounts for the underestimated mass accretion rate due to the (unobserved) soft X-ray blackbody and cyclotron cooling emissions. We found that the lowest accretion rate of
m
̇
= 0.6 g cm
−2
s
−1
, which corresponds to the nearest source distance and maximum
f
value, yields a WD mass of (0.92 ± 0.08)
M
⊙
. On the other hand, as long as the accretion rate is
m
̇
≳
3
g cm
−2
s
−1
, the WD mass is robustly measured to be (0.81 ± 0.06)
M
⊙
, nearly independent of
m
̇
. The derived WD mass range is consistent with the mean WD mass of nearby IPs. Assuming spin equilibrium between the WD and accretion disk, we constrained the WD magnetic field to
B
≳ 7 MG, indicating that it could be a highly magnetized IP. Our analysis presents the most comprehensive methodology for constraining the WD mass and
B
field of an IP by consolidating the effects of cyclotron cooling, finite magnetospheric radius, and accretion column height.
Abstract
We present results of long Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR; 200 ks) and XMM–Newton (100 ks) observations of the Arches stellar cluster, a source of bright thermal (kT ∼ 2 keV) ...X-rays with prominent Fe xxv Kα 6.7 keV line emission and a nearby molecular cloud, characterized by an extended non-thermal hard X-ray continuum and fluorescent Fe Kα 6.4 keV line of a neutral or low-ionization state material around the cluster. Our analysis demonstrates that the non-thermal emission of the Arches cloud underwent a dramatic change, with its homogeneous morphology, traced by fluorescent Fe Kα line emission, vanishing after 2012, revealing three bright clumps. The declining trend of the cloud emission, if linearly fitted, is consistent with half-life decay time of ∼8 yr. Such strong variations have been observed in several other molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre, including the giant molecular cloud Sgr B2, and point towards a similar propagation of illuminating fronts, presumably induced by the past flaring activity of Sgr A⋆. We also detect a significant drop of the equivalent width of the fluorescent Fe Ka line, which could mean either that the new clumps have a different position along the line of sight or that the contribution of cosmic ray has become more dominant.
ABSTRACT In 2013, NuSTAR observed the Sgr B2 region and for the first time resolved its hard X-ray emission on subarcminute scales. Two prominent features are detected above 10 keV: a newly emerging ...cloud, G0.66−0.13, and the central 90″ radius region containing two compact cores, Sgr B2(M) and Sgr B2(N), surrounded by diffuse emission. It is inconclusive whether the remaining level of Sgr B2 emission is still decreasing or has reached a constant background level. A decreasing X-ray emission can be best explained by the X-ray reflection nebula scenario, where the cloud reprocesses a past giant outburst from Sgr A In the X-ray reflection nebula (XRN) scenario, the 3-79 keV Sgr B2 spectrum allows us to self-consistently test the XRN model using both the Fe K line and the continuum emission. The peak luminosity of the past Sgr A outburst is constrained to A newly discovered cloud feature, G0.66−0.13, shows different timing variability. We suggest that it could be a molecular clump located in the Sgr B2 envelope reflecting the same Sgr A outburst. In contrast, if the Sgr B2 X-ray emission has reached a constant background level, it would imply an origin of low-energy cosmic-ray (CR) proton bombardment. In this scenario, from the NuSTAR measurements we infer a CR ion power of and a CR ionization rate of These measurements can become powerful tools to constrain the GC CR population.
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