High-Energy Emission from the PSR B1259-63 System near Periastron

M. Tavani; J. E. Grove; W. Purcell; W. Hermsen; L. Kuiper; P. Kaaret; E. Ford; R. B. Wilson; M. Finger; B. A. Harmon; S. N. Zhang; J. Mattox; D. J. Thompson; J. Arons

arXiv · astro-ph/9611179

High-Energy Emission from the PSR B1259-63 System near Periastron

M. Tavani·J. E. Grove·W. Purcell·W. Hermsen·L. Kuiper·P. Kaaret·E. Ford·R. B. Wilson·M. Finger·B. A. Harmon·S. N. Zhang·J. Mattox·D. J. Thompson·J. Arons

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Abstract

We report the results of a CGRO 3-week observation of the binary system containing the 47 ms pulsar PSR B1259-63 orbiting around a Be star companion in a very eccentric orbit. The PSR B1259-63 binary is a unique system for the study of the interaction of a rapidly rotating pulsar with time-variable nebular surroundings. CGRO observed the PSR B1259-63 system in coincidence with its most recent periastron passage (January 3-23, 1994). Unpulsed and non-thermal hard X-ray emission was detected up to 200 keV, with a photon index $1.8 \pm 0.2$ and a flux of ~4 mCrab, corresponding to a luminosity of a few 10^{34} erg/s at the distance of 2 kpc. The hard X-ray flux and spectrum detected by CGRO agrees with the X-ray emission measured by simultaneous ASCA observations. EGRET upper limits are significant, and exclude strong inverse Compton cooling in the PSR B1259-63 system. We interpret the observed non-thermal emission as synchrotron radiation of shocked electron/positron pairs of the relativistic pulsar wind interacting with the mass outflow from the Be star. Our results clearly indicate, for the first time in a binary pulsar, that high energy emission can be shock-powered rather than caused by accretion. The lack of X-ray/gamma-ray pulsations constrains models of high-energy emission from rapidly rotating pulsars.

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M. Tavani, J. E. Grove, W. Purcell, W. Hermsen, L. Kuiper, P. Kaaret, E. Ford, R. B. Wilson, M. Finger, B. A. Harmon, S. N. Zhang, J. Mattox, D. J. Thompson, J. Arons. 1996-11-21. High-Energy Emission from the PSR B1259-63 System near Periastron. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9611179

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