Near-infrared observations of PSR J1357-6429
Abstract
PSR J1357-6429 is a young radio pulsar that has been detected in the X-ray and γ-ray bands. We present high spatial resolution near-infrared imaging of the pulsar field in the J, H and Ks bands obtained using the VLT/NaCo with the Adaptive Optic system. We found a faint source at the most precise pulsar radio position, which we propose as the pulsar near-infrared counterpart candidate. It is confidently detected in the J and Ks bands, with J = 23.51 ± 0.24 and Ks = 21.82 ± 0.25. There is a hint of the source in the H band, with an upper limit H > 22.8. The dereddened source fluxes are compatible with the extrapolation of the pulsar X-ray spectrum towards the near-infrared. If the candidate is the true counterpart, this property means that PSR J1357-6429 would be similar to the nearby middle-age pulsar PSR B0656+14. In this case, both pulsars demonstrate an unusually high near-infrared efficiency relative to the X-ray efficiency as compared with other pulsars detected in these two ranges.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- January 2016
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stv2401
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1511.04233
- Bibcode:
- 2016MNRAS.455.1746Z
- Keywords:
-
- pulsars: individual: PSR J1357-6429;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 6 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables