An Extreme Pulsar Tail Protruding from the Frying Pan Supernova Remnant

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and analysis of an exceptionally long pulsar tail emanating from the Frying Pan supernova remnant, revealing insights into pulsar velocities, magnetic fields, and wind composition.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed radio imaging and polarization study of a pulsar tail over 20 parsecs long, confirming its bow-shock PWN nature and measuring its physical properties.

Findings

Longest pulsar tail observed in radio to date.

Pulsar velocity estimated over 1000 km/s.

Magnetic field aligned with tail, indicating high flow speed.

Abstract

The Frying Pan (G315.9-0.0) is a radio supernova remnant with a peculiar linear feature (G315.78-0.23) extending 10' radially outward from the rim of the shell. We present radio imaging and polarization observations obtained from the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope and the Australia Telescope Compact Array, confirming G315.78-0.23 as a bow-shock pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by the young pulsar J1437-5959. This is one of the longest pulsar tails observed in radio and it has a physical extent over 20 pc. We found a bow-shock stand-off distance of 0.002 pc, smallest among similar systems, suggesting a large pulsar velocity over 1000 km/s and a high Mach number ~200. The magnetic field geometry inferred from radio polarimetry shows a good alignment with the tail orientation, which could be a result of high flow speed. There are also hints that the postshock wind has a low magnetization and is dominated by electrons and positrons in energy. This study shows that PWNe can offer a powerful probe of their local environment, particularly for the case of a bow shock where the parent supernova shell is also detected.