XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of the candidate Fermi-LAT pulsar 4FGL J1015.5-6030

TL;DR

This study presents X-ray observations of the candidate pulsar 4FGL J1015.5-6030, revealing a thermally emitting neutron star with a possible pulsar wind nebula, but no detected pulsations, suggesting a middle-aged, radio-quiet pulsar.

Contribution

First detailed X-ray timing and imaging analysis of 4FGL J1015.5-6030, characterizing its spectrum and environment, and inferring its nature as a middle-aged, radio-quiet pulsar.

Findings

No significant pulsations detected, upper limit on pulsed fraction 34%.

Point source spectrum fits a blackbody plus weak power-law, consistent with a neutron star.

Extended emission matches characteristics of a pulsar wind nebula.

Abstract

4FGL J1015.5-6030 is an unidentified Fermi-LAT source hosting a bright, extended X-ray source whose X-ray spectrum is consistent with that of a young pulsar, yet no pulsations have been found. Here we report on XMM-Newton timing and Chandra imaging observations of the X-ray counterpart of 4FGL J1015.5-6030. We find no significant periodicity from the source and place a 3$\sigma$ upper-limit on its pulsed fraction of 34$\%$. The Chandra observations resolve the point source from the extended emission. We find that the point source's spectrum is well fit by a blackbody model, with temperature $kT=0.205\pm0.009$ keV, plus a weak power-law component, which is consistent with a thermally emitting neutron star with a magnetospheric component. The extended emission spans angular scales of a few arcseconds up to about 30$''$ from the point source and its spectrum is well fit by a power-law model with a photon index $\Gamma=1.70\pm0.05$. The extended emission's spectrum and 0.5-10 keV luminosity of 4$\times10^{32}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (at a plausible distance of 2 kpc) are consistent with that of a pulsar wind nebula. Based on a comparison to other GeV and X-ray pulsars, we find that this putative pulsar is likely a middle-aged (i.e., $\tau\sim 0.1$--1 Myr) radio-quiet pulsar with $\dot{E}\sim10^{34}-10^{35}$ erg s$^{-1}$.