Discovery of an optical bow-shock around pulsar B0740-28

D. Heath Jones; Ben W. Stappers; Bryan M. Gaensler

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020651

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Discovery of an optical bow-shock around pulsar B0740-28

D. Heath Jones·Ben W. Stappers·Bryan M. Gaensler

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Abstract

We report the discovery of a faint H-alpha pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by the radio pulsar B0740-28. The characteristic bow-shock morphology of the PWN implies a direction of motion consistent with the previously measured velocity vector for the pulsar. The PWN has a flux density more than an order of magnitude lower than for the PWNe seen around other pulsars, but, for a distance 2 kpc, it is consistent with propagation through a medium of atomic density n_H ~ 0.25 cm^{-3}, and neutral fraction of 1%. The morphology of the PWN in the area close to the pulsar is distinct from that in downstream regions, as is also seen for the PWN powered by PSR B2224+65. In particular, the PWN associated with PSR B0740-28 appears to close at its rear, suggesting that the pulsar has recently passed through a transition from low density to high density ambient gas. The faintness of this source underscores that deep searches are needed to find further examples of optical pulsar nebulae.

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D. Heath Jones, Ben W. Stappers, Bryan M. Gaensler. 2002-05-01. Discovery of an optical bow-shock around pulsar B0740-28. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%3A20020651

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