Deciphering the nature of the pulsar wind nebula CTB 87 with XMM-Newton
Abstract
CTB 87 (G74.9+1.2) is an evolved supernova remnant (SNR) which hosts a peculiar pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The X-ray peak is offset from that observed in radio and lies towards the edge of the radio nebula. The putative pulsar, CXOU J201609.2+371110, was first resolved with Chandra and is surrounded by a compact and a more extended X-ray nebula. Here, we use a deep XMM-Newton observation to examine the morphology and evolutionary stage of the PWN and to search for thermal emission expected from a supernova shell or reverse shock interaction with supernova ejecta. We do not find evidence of thermal X-ray emission from the SNR and place an upper limit on the electron density of 0.05 cm-3 for a plasma temperature kT ∼ 0.8 keV. The morphology and spectral properties are consistent with a ∼20-kyr-old relic PWN expanding into a stellar wind-blown bubble. We also present the first X-ray spectral index map from the PWN and show that we can reproduce its morphology by means of 2D axisymmetric relativistic hydrodynamical simulations.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stz3270
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1911.11829
- Bibcode:
- 2020MNRAS.491.3013G
- Keywords:
-
- ISM: individual (CTB 87 CXOU J201609.2+371110);
- ISM: supernova remnants;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 9 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS