X-ray analysis of the proper motion and pulsar wind nebula for PSR J1741-2054

TL;DR

This study used extensive Chandra X-ray observations to measure PSR J1741-2054's proper motion, analyze its spectrum, and investigate its pulsar wind nebula, providing insights into its trajectory and emission properties.

Contribution

First precise measurement of the pulsar's proper motion using multi-epoch X-ray data, along with detailed spectral analysis of the pulsar and nebula.

Findings

Proper motion of 109 ± 10 mas/yr aligned with Hα nebula axis

Confirmed spectral properties with power-law and blackbody components

No evidence of small-scale structures or synchrotron cooling in the nebula

Abstract

We obtained six observations of PSR J1741-2054 using the $Chandra$ ACIS-S detector totaling $\sim$300 ks. By registering this new epoch of observations to an archival observation taken 3.2 years earlier using X-ray point sources in the field of view, we have measured the pulsar proper motion at $\mu =109 \pm 10 {\rm mas\ yr}^{-1}$ in a direction consistent with the symmetry axis of the observed H$\alpha$ nebula. We investigated the inferred past trajectory of the pulsar but find no compelling association with OB associations in which the progenitor may have originated. We confirm previous measurements of the pulsar spectrum as an absorbed power law with photon index $\Gamma$=2.68$\pm$0.04, plus a blackbody with an emission radius of (4.5$^{+3.2}_{-2.5})d_{0.38}$ km, for a DM-estimated distance of $0.38d_{0.38}$ kpc and a temperature of $61.7\pm3.0$ eV. Emission from the compact nebula is well described by an absorbed power law model with a photon index of $\Gamma$ = 1.67$\pm$0.06, while the diffuse emission seen as a trail extending northeast of the pulsar shows no evidence of synchrotron cooling. We also applied image deconvolution techniques to search for small-scale structures in the immediate vicinity of the pulsar, but found no conclusive evidence for such structures.