The dynamic X-ray nebula powered by the pulsar B1259-63

Abstract

We present observations of the eccentric gamma-ray binary B1259-63/LS2883 with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The images reveal a variable, extended about 4'', or about 1000 times the binary orbit size) structure, which appears to be moving away from the binary with the velocity of 0.05 of the speed of light. The observed emission is interpreted as synchrotron radiation from relativistic particles supplied by the pulsar. However, the fast motion through the circumbinary medium would require the emitting cloud to be loaded with a large amount of baryonic matter. Alternatively, the extended emission can be interpreted as a variable extrabinary shock in the pulsar wind outflow launched near binary apastron. The resolved variable X-ray nebula provides an opportunity to probe pulsar winds and their interaction with stellar winds in a previously inaccessible way.

7 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; submitted to ApJ

References in corpus (7)

• Mass loss from hot massive stars
• Gamma-ray binaries: pulsars in disguise ?
• Pulsar Wind Nebulae in the Chandra Era
• Modeling interaction of relativistic and nonrelativistic winds in binary system PSR 1259-63/SS2883. I.Hydrodynamical limit
• The kinematics and orbital dynamics of the PSR B1259$-$63/LS 2883 system from 23 years of pulsar timing
• The modulation of the gamma-ray emission from the binary LS 5039
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Cited by in corpus (17)

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• Pulsar-Wind Nebulae: Recent Progress in Observations and Theory
• Multi-wavelength Observations of the Binary System PSR B1259-63/LS~2883 around the 2014 Periastron Passage
• The geometric distance and binary orbit of PSR B1259-63
• Orbital evolution of colliding star and pulsar winds in 2D and 3D; effects of: dimensionality, EoS, resolution, and grid size
• Modelling the multi-wavelength emissions from PSR B1259-63/LS 2883: the effects of the stellar disc on shock radiations
• From young to old: the evolutionary path of Pulsar Wind Nebulae
• HESS J0632+057: hydrodynamics and nonthermal emission
• Evolution of the extended X-ray emission from the PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 binary in the 2014-2017 binary cycle
• X-ray and Radio Variabilities of PSR J2032+4127 near Periastron
• Fermi-LAT Observation of PSR B1259-63 during Its 2021 Periastron Passage
• XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of the unidentified Fermi-LAT source 3FGL J1016.5-6034: A Young Pulsar with a Nebula?
• ALMA Observations of PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 in an Inactive Period: Variable Circumstellar Disk?
• High-speed Ejecta from the Gamma-ray Binary PSR B1259-63/LS 2883
• X-ray imaging observations of the high-mass gamma-ray binary HESS J0632+057
• Spatially resolved polarization variation of the Crab Nebula
• First ejection from the PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 high mass gamma-ray binary detected during the 2021-2024 binary cycle