{\it NuSTAR} hard X-ray studies of the pulsar wind nebula 3C~58

Abstract

We report on new NuSTAR and archival Chandra observations of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) 3C 58. Using the X-ray data, we measure energy-dependent morphologies and spatially-resolved spectra of the PWN. We find that the PWN size becomes smaller with increasing energy and that the spectrum is softer in outer regions. In the spatially integrated spectrum of the PWN, we find a hint of a spectral break at $\sim$25 keV. We interpret these findings using synchrotron-radiation scenarios. We attribute the size change to the synchrotron burn-off effect. The radial profile of the spectral index has a break at $R\sim 80^{\prime \prime }$, implying a maximum electron energy of $\sim$200 TeV which is larger than a previous estimate, and the 25-keV spectral break corresponds to a maximum electron energy of $\sim$140 TeV for an assumed magnetic field strength of 80 $\mu$G. Combining the X-ray data and a previous radio-to-IR SED, we measure a cooling break frequency to be $\sim 10^{15}$ Hz, which constrains the magnetic-field strength in 3C 58 to be 30-200$\mu$G for an assumed age range of 800-5000 years.

9 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (9)

• Pulsar-wind nebulae and magnetar outflows: observations at radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths
• Broadband X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy of the Crab Nebula and Pulsar with NuSTAR
• The Infrared Detection of the Pulsar Wind Nebula in the Galactic Supernova Remnant 3C 58
• NuSTAR study of Hard X-Ray Morphology and Spectroscopy of PWN G21.5-0.9
• Discovery of TeV gamma-ray emission from the pulsar wind nebula 3C 58 by MAGIC
• Discovery of Pulsations from the Pulsar J0205+6449 in SNR 3C 58 with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope
• High-Energy X-ray Imaging of the Pulsar Wind Nebula MSH~15-52: Constraints on Particle Acceleration and Transport
• Toward understanding the physical underpinnings of spatial and spectral morphologies of pulsar wind nebulae
• In-flight PSF calibration of the NuSTAR hard X-ray optics

Cited by in corpus (4)

• A broadband X-ray study of the Rabbit pulsar wind nebula powered by PSR J1418-6058
• X-ray studies of the pulsar PSR J1420-6048 and its TeV pulsar wind nebula in the Kookaburra region
• A polarized view of the young Pulsar Wind Nebula 3C 58 with IXPE
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton Observations of PSR J1930+1852 and Its Pulsar Wind Nebula