| Title (1st Abstract) |
High Resolution Radio Imaging Study of the Pulsar Wind Nebula MSH 15-52
|
| Affiliation |
The University of Hong Kong
|
| 1st Abstract |
We present a new high-resolution radio imaging study of the pulsar wind nebula
(PWN) MSH 15$-$5textit{2}, also dubbed as “the hand of God”, with the Australia Telescope
Compact Array observations. The system is powered by a young and energetic
radio pulsar B1509$-$58 with high spin down luminosity of $dot E = 2times10^{37}$,erg, s$^{-1}$. Previous X-ray images have shown that the PWN has a complex hand-shape morphology extending over 10,pc with features like jets, arc, filaments and enhanced emission knots in the H{sc ii} region RCW 89.
The new 6cm and 3cm radio images show different morphology than the X-ray counterpart.
No radio counterpart of the X-ray jet is detected, instead we found enhanced
emission in a sheath surrounding the jet. Additional small-scale features including a polarized
linear filament next to the pulsar have also been discovered. Our polarisation measurements
show that the intrinsic orientation of magnetic field aligns with the sheath. Finally, spectral
analysis results indicate a steep spectrum for the system, which is rather unusual among PWNe. Implications of these findings will be discussed.
The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National
Facility which is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a
National Facility managed by CSIRO. This work is supported by an ECS grant under
HKU 709713P.
|
