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

TL;DR

This study uses multi-epoch Chandra observations to analyze the bow-shock nebula around the old pulsar PSR B1929+10, confirming non-thermal emission and discovering an arc-like nebula interpreted as a bow-shock.

Contribution

First detailed Chandra multi-epoch imaging of PSR B1929+10's bow-shock nebula, confirming non-thermal emission and revealing new nebular features.

Findings

Confirmed non-thermal X-ray emission from the pulsar.

Discovered an arc-like bow-shock nebula around the pulsar.

Analyzed the nebula's energetics within shock theory context.

Abstract

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