Back to Search
Start Over
Discovery of a Be/X-ray pulsar binary and associated supernova remnant in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud.
- Source :
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters . Feb2012, Vol. 420 Issue 1, pL13-L17. 5p. - Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- ABSTRACT We report on a new Be/X-ray pulsar binary located in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The strong pulsed X-ray source was discovered with the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories. The X-ray pulse period of 1062 s is consistently determined from both Chandra and XMM-Newton observations, revealing one of the slowest rotating X-ray pulsars known in the SMC. The optical counterpart of the X-ray source is the emission-line star 2dFS 3831. Its B0-0.5(III)e+ spectral type is determined from VLT-FLAMES and 2dF optical spectroscopy, establishing the system as a Be/X-ray binary (Be-XRB). The hard X-ray spectrum is well fitted by a power law with additional thermal and blackbody components, the latter reminiscent of persistent Be-XRBs. This system is the first evidence of a recent supernova in the low-density surroundings of NGC 602. We detect a shell nebula around 2dFS 3831 in Hα and [O iii] images and conclude that it is most likely a supernova remnant. If it is linked to the supernova explosion that created this new X-ray pulsar, its kinematic age of (2-4) × 104 yr provides a constraint on the age of the pulsar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17453925
- Volume :
- 420
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 70469572
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3933.2011.01183.x