A Shell of Thermal X-ray Emission Associated with the Young Crab-like Remnant 3C58

Abstract

Deep X-ray imaging spectroscopy of the bright pulsar wind nebula 3C58 confirms the existence of an embedded thermal X-ray shell surrounding the pulsar PSR J0205+6449. Radially resolved spectra obtained with the XMM-Newton telescope are well-characterized by a power-law model with the addition of a soft thermal emission component in varying proportions. These fits reproduce the well-studied increase in the spectral index with radius attributed to synchrotron burn-off of high energy electrons. Most interestingly, a radially resolved thermal component is shown to map out a shell-like structure ~6' in diameter. The presence of a strong emission line corresponding to the Ne IX He-like transition requires an overabundance of ~3 x [Ne/Ne(sun)] in the Raymond-Smith plasma model. The best-fit temperature kT ~ 0.23 keV is essentially independent of radius for the derived column density of N_H = (4.2 +/- 0.1)E21 per cm squared. Our result suggests that thermal shells can be obscured in the early evolution of a supernova remnant by non-thermal pulsar wind nebulae emission; the luminosity of the 3C58 shell is more than an order of magnitude below the upper limit on a similar shell in the Crab Nebula. We find the shell centroid to be offset from the pulsar location. If this neutron star has a velocity similar to that of the Crab pulsar, we derive an age of 3700 yr and a velocity vector aligned with the long axis of the PWN. The shell parameters and pulsar offset add to the accumulating evidence that 3C58 is not the remnant of the supernova of CE 1181.

7 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, Latex emulateapj style. To appear in the Astrophysical Journal

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• The Vela Pulsar and its Synchrotron Nebula
• Young core collapse supernova remnants and their supernovae
• Chandra imaging of the X-ray nebula powered by pulsar B1509-58
• New Constraints on the Structure and Evolution of the Pulsar Wind Nebula 3C 58
• New Constraints on Neutron Star Cooling from Chandra Observations of 3C58
• Neon Abundances in B-Stars of the Orion Association: Solving the Solar Model Problem?
• Radio Images of 3C 58: Expansion and Motion of its Wisp
• The X-ray nebula of the filled center supernova remnant 3C58 and its interaction with the environment
• ASCA Observation of the Crab-Like Supernova Remnant 3C58
• The XMM--NEWTON Omega Project: I. The X-ray Luminosity - Temperature Relation at z>0.4
• CHANDRA Observations of the X-ray Halo around the Crab Nebula

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