On the Distance and Age of the Pulsar Wind Nebula 3C58

TL;DR

This paper revises the distance estimate of the pulsar wind nebula 3C58 using new HI data and parallax measurements, supporting its association with the 1181 AD supernova and suggesting it is older than previously thought.

Contribution

It provides a more accurate distance measurement for 3C58, strengthening its link to the historical supernova and challenging previous age estimates.

Findings

Revised distance of 2 kpc for 3C58 based on new HI data.

Supports the association of 3C58 with the 1181 AD supernova.

Suggests 3C58 is older than earlier estimates based on previous distance assumptions.

Abstract

There is a growing community of astronomers presenting evidence that the pulsar wind nebula 3C58 is much older than the connection with the historical supernova of A.D 1181 would indicate. Most of the strong evidence against a young age for 3C58 relies heavily on the assumed distance of 3.2 kpc determined with HI absorption measurements. I have revisited this distance determination based on new HI data from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey and added newly determined distances to objects in the neighbourhood, which are based on direct measurements by trigonometric parallax. This leads to a new more reliable distance estimate of 2 kpc for 3C58 and makes the connection between the pulsar wind nebula and the historical event from A.D. 1181 once again much more compelling.