The Nearby Neutron Star RX J0720.4-3125 from Radio to X-rays

Abstract

We present radio, optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray observations of the isolated, thermally-emitting neutron star RX J0720.4-3125 using the Parkes radio telescope, the Very Large Array, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. From these data we show that the optical/UV spectrum of RX J0720.4-3125 is not well fit by a Rayleigh-Jeans tail as previously thought, but is instead best fit by either a single non-thermal power-law or a combination of a Rayleigh-Jeans tail and a non-thermal power-law. Taken together with the X-ray spectrum, we find the best model for RX J0720.4-3125 to be two blackbodies plus a power-law, with the cool blackbody implying a radius of 11-13 km at an assumed distance of 300 pc. This is similar to many middle aged (10^{5-6} yr) radio pulsars such as PSR B0656+14, evidence supporting the hypothesis that RX J0720.4-3125 is likely to be an off-beam radio pulsar. The radio data limit the flux at 1.4 GHz to be <0.24 mJy, or a luminosity limit of 4*pi*d^2*F < 3e25*d_300^2 ergs/s, and we see no sign of extended nebulosity, consistent with expectations for a pulsar like RX J0720.4-3125.