VLT observations of the Central Compact Object in the Vela Jr. supernova remnant

Abstract

X-ray observations have unveiled the existence of enigmatic point-like sources at the center of young (a few kyrs) supernova remnants. These sources, known as Central Compact Objects (CCOs), are thought to be neutron stars produced by the supernova explosion, although their X-ray phenomenology makes them markedly different from all the other young neutron stars discovered so far.The aim of this work is to search for the optical/IR counterpart of the Vela Junior CCO and to understand the nature of the associated Halpha nebula discovered by Pellizzoni et al. (2002).}{We have used deep optical (R band) and IR (J,H,Ks bands) observations recently performed by our group with the ESO VLT to obtain the first deep, high resolution images of the field with the goal of resolving the nebula structure and pinpointing a point-like source possibly associated with the neutron star.Our R-band image shows that both the nebula's flux and its structure are very similar to the Halpha ones, suggesting that the nebula spectrum is dominated by pure Halpha line emission. However, the nebula is not detected in our IR observations, whick makes it impossible to to constrain its spectrum. A faint point-like object (J>22.6, H~21.6, Ks ~ 21.4) compatible with the neutron star's Chandra X-ray position is detected in our IR images (H and Ks) but not in the optical one (R > 25.6), where it is buried by the nebula background. The nebula is most likely a bow-shock produced by the neutron star motion through the ISM or, alternatively, a photo-ionization nebula powered by UV radiation from a hot neutron star.

arXiv comment8 pages, 4 figures, A&Aaccepted

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• Optical, ultraviolet, and infrared observations of isolated neutron stars
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• Deep infrared observations of the puzzling central X-ray source in RCW103
• A kinematic study of central compact objects and their host supernova remnants
• HST and VLT observations of the neutron star 1E 1207.4-5209
• The Proper Motion of the Pulsar J1124-5916 in the Galactic Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8
• The nature of the infrared counterpart and of the optical nebula associated with the Central Compact Object in Vela Jr.\
• A hypercritical accretion scenario in Central Compact Objects accompanied with an expected neutrino burst
• Searching for Debris Disks around Isolated Pulsars
• Results from an Einstein@Home search for continuous gravitational waves from Cassiopeia A and Vela Jr. using LIGO O2 data