Hitomi HXT deconvolution imaging of the Crab Nebula dazzled by the Crab pulsar
Abstract
We develop a new deconvolution method to recover the precise Crab Nebula image taken by the Hitomi HXT, suppressing the artifact due to the bright Crab pulsar. We extend the Richardson-Lucy method, introducing two components corresponding to the nebula and pulsar with regularization for smoothness and flux, respectively, and performing simultaneous deconvolution of multi-pulse-phase images. The structures, including the torus and jets, seen in the deconvolved nebula image at the lowest energy band of 3.6-15 keV appear consistent with those identified in the high-resolution Chandra X-ray image. Above 15 keV, we confirm NuSTAR's findings that the nebula size decreases in higher energy bands. We find that the north-east side of the nebula is fainter in higher energy bands. Our deconvolution method is applicable for any telescope images of faint diffuse objects containing a bright point source.
- Publication:
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Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
- Pub Date:
- April 2024
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2401.08278
- Bibcode:
- 2024PASJ...76..272M
- Keywords:
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- ISM: individual objects (Crab Nebula);
- methods: data analysis;
- methods: statistical;
- techniques: high angular resolution;
- techniques: image processing;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 17 pages, 8 figures, This article has been accepted for publication in PASJ. Published by Oxford University Press. This is author's original version at the submission, containing some errors. Some figures are misaligned