PSR J1119-6127 and its pulsar wind nebula following the magnetar-like bursts

Abstract

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 and an unabsorbed flux of 5.7e-12 ergs/cm^2/s in the 0.5-7.0 keV energy range. At the time of Chandra observations, the pulsar was still brighter by a factor of ~22 in comparison with its quiescence. The X-ray images reveal a nebula brighter than in the pre-burst Chandra observations (from 2002 and 2004), with an unabsorbed flux of 2.2e-13 ergs/cm^-2/s. This implies a current X-ray efficiency of ~0.001 at a distance of 8.4 kpc. In addition, a faint torus-like structure is visible along the southeast-northwest direction and a jet-like feature perpendicular to the torus towards the southwest. The PWN is best fitted by an absorbed powerlaw with a photon index of 2.2\pm0.5 (post-burst). While the pulsar can still be energetically powered by rotation, the observed changes in PSR~J1119-6127 and its PWN following the magnetar-like bursts point to an additional source of energy powered by its high-magnetic field.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in ApJL

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• Peculiar Spin Frequency and Radio Profile Evolution of PSR J1119$-$6127 Following Magnetar-like X-ray Bursts
• From young to old: the evolutionary path of Pulsar Wind Nebulae
• X-ray Spectroscopy of the Highly Magnetized Pulsar PSR J1846-0258, its Wind Nebula and Hosting Supernova Remnant Kes 75
• The 2016 outburst of PSR J1119-6127: cooling & a spin-down dominated glitch
• Reactivation of the high-magnetic field pulsar PSR J1846--0258 with magnetar-like bursts
• Chandra observations of the newly discovered magnetar Swift J1818.0-1607
• A multi-wavelength study of PSR J1119$-$6127 after 2016 outburst
• Observational connection of non-thermal X-ray emission from pulsars with their timing properties and thermal emission
• The power-law component of the X-ray emissions from pulsar wind nebulae and their pulsars
• Revealing Hidden Variability in PWNe With Spectral Index Maps
• Pulsar Wind Nebulae
• Investigation of the High-Energy Emission from the Magnetar-like Pulsar PSR J1119-6127 after the 2016 Outburst
• Planetary magnetosphere evolution around post-main-sequence stars
• Low X-ray Efficiency of a Young High-B Pulsar PSR J1208-6238 Observed with Chandra
• Ray Tracing Through Absorbing Dielectric Media in the Schwarzschild Spacetime
• Back to quiescence: post-outburst evolution of the pulsar J1119-6127 and its wind nebula
• High-Resolution X-ray Imaging Studies of Neutron Stars, Pulsar Wind Nebulae and Supernova Remnants