Resolving the bow-shock nebula around the old pulsar PSR B1929+10 with multi-epoch Chandra observations

摘要

We have studied the nearby old pulsar PSR B1929+10 and its surroundinginterstellar medium utilizing the sub-arcsecond angular resolution of theChandra X-ray Observatory. The Chandra data are found to be fully consistentwith the results obtained from deep XMM-Newton observations as far as thepulsar is concerned. We confirm the non-thermal emission nature of the pulsar'sX-radiation. In addition to the X-ray trail already seen in previousobservations by the ROSAT and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories, we discovered anarc-like nebula surrounding the pulsar. We interpret the feature as a bow-shocknebula and discuss its energetics in the context of standard shock theory.