PSR J1856+0245: arecibo discovery of a young, energetic pulsar coincident with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1857+026

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Bhat, N. D. R.

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PSR J1856+0245: arecibo discovery of a young, energetic pulsar coincident with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1857+026

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/47724

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Title: PSR J1856+0245: arecibo discovery of a young, energetic pulsar coincident with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1857+026
Author(s): Hessels, Jason W.; Nice, David J.; Gaensler, Bryan M.; Kaspi, Victoria M.; Lorimer, Duncan R.; Champion, David J.; Lyne, Andrew G.; Kramer, Michael; Cordes, James M.; Freire, Paulo C. C.; Camilo, Fernando; Ransom, Scott M.; Deneva, Julia S.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Cognard, I.; Crawford, Fronefield; Jenet, Fredrick A.; Kasian, Laura; Lazarus, Patrick; van Leeuwen, Joeri; McLaughlin, Maura A.; Stairs, Ingrid H.; Stappers, Benjamin W.; Venkataraman, Arun
Abstract: We present the discovery of the Vela-like radio pulsar J1856+0245 in the Arecibo PALFA survey. PSR J1856+0245 has a spin period of 81 ms, a characteristic age of 21 kyr, and a spin-down luminosity (E) over dot = 4.6 x 10(36) ergs s(-1). It is positionally coincident with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1857+026, which has no other known counterparts. Young, energetic pulsars create wind nebulae, and more than a dozen pulsar wind nebulae have been associated with very high energy ( 100 GeV-100 TeV) gamma-ray sources discovered with the HESS telescope. The gamma-ray emission seen from HESS J1857+026 is potentially produced by a pulsar wind nebula powered by PSR J1856+0245; faint X-ray emission detected by ASCA at the pulsar's position supports this hypothesis. The inferred gamma-ray efficiency is epsilon(gamma) = L-gamma/(E) over dot = 3.1 % (1-10 TeV, for a distance of 9 kpc), comparable to that observed in similar associations.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies. Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing
Source: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 682, no. 1 (Jul 2008), pp. L41-L44
Publication year: 2008
FOR Code(s): 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; 020105 General Relativity and Gravitational Waves
Keyword(s): AX J185651+0245; Emission; Galactic plane survey; Gamma rays; Individual pulsars; J1813-178; Neutron stars; Observations; PSR J1856+0245; Pulsars; Supernova remnant; Vela-x; XMM-Newton observations; X-rays; Wind nebulae
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISSN: 0004-637X
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/590908
Peer reviewed