A multiwavlength study of PSR B0628-28: The first overluminous rotation-powered pulsar?

Abstract

The ROSAT source RX J0630.8-2834 was suggested by positional coincidence to be the X-ray counterpart of the old field pulsar PSR B0628-28. This association, however, was regarded to be unlikely based on the computed energetics of the putative X-ray counterpart. In this paper we report on multiwavelength observations of PSR B0628-28 made with the ESO/NTT observatory in La Silla, the Jodrell Bank radio observatory and XMM-Newton. Although the optical observations do not detect any counterpart of RX J0630.8-2834 down to a limiting magnitude of V=26.1 mag and B=26.3 mag, XMM-Newton observations finally confirmed it to be the pulsar's X-ray counterpart by detecting X-ray pulses with the radio pulsar's spin-period. The X-ray pulse profile is characterized by a single broad peak with a second smaller peak leading the main pulse component by ~144 degree. The fraction of pulsed photons is (38 +- 7)% with no strong energy dependence in the XMM-Newton bandpass. The pulsar's X-ray spectrum is well described by a single component power law with photon index 2.63^{+0.23}_{-0.15}, indicating that the pulsar's X radiation is dominated by non-thermal emission processes. A low level contribution of thermal emission from residual cooling or from heated polar caps, cannot be excluded. The pulsar's spin-down to X-ray energy conversion efficiency is obtained to be ~16% for the radio dispersion measure inferred pulsar distance. If confirmed, PSR B0628-28 would be the first X-ray overluminous rotation-powered pulsar identified among all ~1400 radio pulsars known today.