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EPIC Study of Two Enigmatic Sources: The Mouse and SNR 359.1-0.5The objective of the original proposal was to observe the Mouse pulsar wind nebula (associated with PSR J1744-2958) and the nearby supernova remnant G359.1-0.5, where the pulsar was probably born, with the XMM-Newton observatory to study the properties of these objects. SNR G359.1-0.5 was accepted as a Category C target and has not been observed. The Mouse was observed on April 27,2003 for 52 ks. The image analysis has shown that the Mouse is extended in the East-West direction, possibly along the direction of the pulsar's proper motion. The spectrum of this pulsar wind nebula can be described as an absorbed power law with the photon index GAMMA = 1.9 plus or minus 0.1, effective hydrogen column density n(sub H) = (2.6 plus or minus 0.1) x 10(exp 22) per square centimeter, and flux F = 1.8 x 10(exp -11) erg per square centimeter per second in the 1-10 keV energy range. Based on the n(sub H) value, the distance to the source is about 5 kpc, which results in the luminosity 3.7 x 10(exp 34) erg per second. We conclude that PSR J1744-2958 and the Mouse are not physically associated with G359.1-0.5, which lies at a larger distance. In addition to the Mouse, we also detected two Low-Mass X-ray Binaries, SLX 1744-299 and 1744-300, in the EPIC MOS and PN fields of view. The latter of these objects showed a Type I X-ray burst during our observation, with a rise time of 5 s and decay time of 60 s. A very strong pileup during the burst made the analysis of the burst properties unreliable. The spectral analysis of the persistent radiation from SLX 1744-299 and 1744-300 yields the hydrogen column densities of 3.2 plus or minus 0.1 and (3.6 plus or minus 0.2) x 10(exp 22) per square centimeter, respectively, which suggests that the sources are close to the Galactic center (d = 8-9 kpc). The spectra can be reasonably well fitted with a blackbody plus thin disk model, with the blackbody temperatures of 1.7 plus or minus 0.2 and 1.8 plus or minus 0.2 keV, respectively.
Document ID
20040139925
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Pavlov, George
(Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Subject Category
Astronomy
Meeting Information
Meeting: 35th COSPAR Meeting
Start Date: July 1, 2004
Sponsors: Committee on Space Research
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-13265
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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