The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)
A Multiwavelength Investigation of PSR J2229+6114 and its Pulsar Wind Nebula in the Radio, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Bands
- I. Pope,
- K. Mori,
- M. Abdelmaguid,
- J. D. Gelfand,
- S. P. Reynolds,
- S. Safi-Harb,
- C. J. Hailey,
- H. An,
- NuSTAR Collaboration,
- P. Bangale,
- P. Batista,
- W. Benbow,
- J. H. Buckley,
- M. Capasso,
- J. L. Christiansen,
- A. J. Chromey,
- A. Falcone,
- Q. Feng,
- J. P. Finley,
- G. M Foote,
- G. Gallagher,
- W. F Hanlon,
- D. Hanna,
- O. Hervet,
- J. Holder,
- T. B. Humensky,
- W. Jin,
- P. Kaaret,
- M. Kertzman,
- D. Kieda,
- T. K. Kleiner,
- N. Korzoun,
- F. Krennrich,
- S. Kumar,
- M. J. Lang,
- G. Maier,
- C. E McGrath,
- C. L. Mooney,
- P. Moriarty,
- R. Mukherjee,
- S. O’Brien,
- R. A. Ong,
- N. Park,
- S. R. Patel,
- K. Pfrang,
- M. Pohl,
- E. Pueschel,
- J. Quinn,
- K. Ragan,
- P. T. Reynolds,
- E. Roache,
- I. Sadeh,
- L. Saha,
- G. H. Sembroski,
- D. Tak,
- J. V. Tucci,
- A. Weinstein,
- D. A. Williams,
- J. Woo,
- VERITAS Collaboration
Affiliations
- I. Pope
- ORCiD
- Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory , 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA ; [email protected]
- K. Mori
- ORCiD
- Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory , 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA ; [email protected]
- M. Abdelmaguid
- NYU Abu Dhabi , P.O. Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- J. D. Gelfand
- ORCiD
- NYU Abu Dhabi , P.O. Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- S. P. Reynolds
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, NC State University , Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
- S. Safi-Harb
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba , Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
- C. J. Hailey
- ORCiD
- Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory , 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA ; [email protected]
- H. An
- ORCiD
- Chungbuk National University , Chungdae-ro 1, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea
- NuSTAR Collaboration
- P. Bangale
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- P. Batista
- ORCiD
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- W. Benbow
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- J. H. Buckley
- Department of Physics, Washington University , St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
- M. Capasso
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Barnard College, Columbia University , NY 10027, USA ; [email protected]
- J. L. Christiansen
- Physics Department, California Polytechnic State University , San Luis Obispo, CA 94307, USA
- A. J. Chromey
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- A. Falcone
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Q. Feng
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- J. P. Finley
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- G. M Foote
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- G. Gallagher
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ball State University , Muncie, IN 47306, USA
- W. F Hanlon
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- D. Hanna
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, McGill University , Montreal, QC H3A 2T8, Canada
- O. Hervet
- ORCiD
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- J. Holder
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- T. B. Humensky
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742-4111, USA; NASA GSFC , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- W. Jin
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
- P. Kaaret
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa , Van Allen Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
- M. Kertzman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, DePauw University , Greencastle, IN 46135-0037, USA
- D. Kieda
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- T. K. Kleiner
- ORCiD
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- N. Korzoun
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- F. Krennrich
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University , Ames, IA 50011, USA
- S. Kumar
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742-4111, USA
- M. J. Lang
- ORCiD
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway , University Road, Galway, H91 TK33, Ireland
- G. Maier
- ORCiD
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- C. E McGrath
- School of Physics, University College Dublin , Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- C. L. Mooney
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716, USA
- P. Moriarty
- ORCiD
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway , University Road, Galway, H91 TK33, Ireland
- R. Mukherjee
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Barnard College, Columbia University , NY 10027, USA ; [email protected]
- S. O’Brien
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, McGill University , Montreal, QC H3A 2T8, Canada
- R. A. Ong
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- N. Park
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy, Queen’s University , Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada ; [email protected]
- S. R. Patel
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- K. Pfrang
- ORCiD
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- M. Pohl
- ORCiD
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany; Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam , 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
- E. Pueschel
- ORCiD
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- J. Quinn
- ORCiD
- School of Physics, University College Dublin , Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- K. Ragan
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, McGill University , Montreal, QC H3A 2T8, Canada
- P. T. Reynolds
- Department of Physical Sciences, Munster Technological University , Bishopstown, Cork, T12 P928, Ireland
- E. Roache
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- I. Sadeh
- ORCiD
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- L. Saha
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- G. H. Sembroski
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- D. Tak
- ORCiD
- DESY , Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- J. V. Tucci
- Department of Physics, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis , Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
- A. Weinstein
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University , Ames, IA 50011, USA
- D. A. Williams
- ORCiD
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- J. Woo
- ORCiD
- Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory , 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA ; [email protected]
- VERITAS Collaboration
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0120
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 960,
no. 1
p. 75
Abstract
G106.3+2.7, commonly considered to be a composite supernova remnant (SNR), is characterized by a boomerang-shaped pulsar wind nebula (PWN) and two distinct (“head” and “tail”) regions in the radio band. A discovery of very-high-energy gamma-ray emission ( E _γ > 100 GeV) followed by the recent detection of ultrahigh-energy gamma-ray emission ( E _γ > 100 TeV) from the tail region suggests that G106.3+2.7 is a PeVatron candidate. We present a comprehensive multiwavelength study of the Boomerang PWN (100″ around PSR J2229+6114) using archival radio and Chandra data obtained two decades ago, a new NuSTAR X-ray observation from 2020, and upper limits on gamma-ray fluxes obtained by Fermi-LAT and VERITAS observatories. The NuSTAR observation allowed us to detect a 51.67 ms spin period from the pulsar PSR J2229+6114 and the PWN emission characterized by a power-law model with Γ = 1.52 ± 0.06 up to 20 keV. Contrary to the previous radio study by Kothes et al., we prefer a much lower PWN B -field ( B ∼ 3 μ G) and larger distance ( d ∼ 8 kpc) based on (1) the nonvarying X-ray flux over the last two decades, (2) the energy-dependent X-ray size of the PWN resulting from synchrotron burn-off, and (3) the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) data. Our SED model suggests that the PWN is currently re-expanding after being compressed by the SNR reverse shock ∼1000 yr ago. In this case, the head region should be formed by GeV–TeV electrons injected earlier by the pulsar propagating into the low-density environment.
Keywords