Expansion and Brightness Changes in the Pulsar-Wind Nebula in the Composite Supernova Remnant Kes 75

TL;DR

This study presents multi-epoch Chandra observations revealing the expansion, brightness changes, and properties of the youngest known pulsar wind nebula in supernova remnant Kes 75, providing insights into its age, evolution, and the pulsar's characteristics.

Contribution

First direct measurement of PWN expansion rate and age in Kes 75, and analysis of brightness variations indicating rapid flux changes not explained by standard models.

Findings

PWN expansion rate of 0.249% per year

Estimated true age of 480 +/- 50 years

10% decrease in PWN flux between 2009 and 2016

Abstract

We report new Chandra X-ray observations of the shell supernova remnant (SNR) Kes 75 (G29.7-0.3) containing a pulsar and pulsar-wind nebula (PWN). Expansion of the PWN is apparent across the four epochs, 2000, 2006, 2009, and 2016. We find an expansion rate between 2000 and 2016 of the NW edge of the PWN of 0.249% +/- 0.023% yr^{-1}, for an expansion age R/(dR/dt) of 400 +/- 40 years and an expansion velocity of about 1000 km s^{-1}. We suggest that the PWN is expanding into an asymmetric nickel bubble in a conventional Type IIP supernova. Some acceleration of the PWN expansion is likely, giving a true age of 480 +/- 50 years. The pulsar's birth luminosity was larger than the current value by a factor of 3 -- 8, while the initial period was within a factor of 2 of its current value. We confirm directly that Kes 75 contains the youngest known PWN, and hence youngest known pulsar. The pulsar PSR J1846-0258 has a spindown-inferred magnetic field of 5 x 10^{13} G; in 2006 it emitted five magnetar-like short X-ray bursts, but its spindown luminosity has not changed significantly. However, the flux of the PWN has decreased by about 10% between 2009 and 2016, almost entirely in the northern half. A bright knot has declined by 30% since 2006. During this time, the photon indices of the power-law models did not change. This flux change is too rapid to be due to normal PWN evolution in one-zone models.