Cotton, WD, Camilo, F, Becker, W et al. (9 more authors) (2022) The Curious Case of the “Heartworm” Nebula. The Astrophysical Journal, 934 (1). ARTN 78. ISSN 0004-637X
Abstract
The curious Galactic features near G357.2−0.2 were observed with the MeerKAT radio interferometer array in the UHF and L bands (0.56–1.68 GHz). There are two possibly related features: a newly identified faint heart-shaped partial shell (the “heart”), and a series of previously known but now much better imaged narrow, curved features (the “worm”) interior to the heart. Polarized emission suggests that much of the emission is nonthermal and is embedded in a dense plasma. The filaments of the worm appear to be magnetic structures powered by embedded knots that are sites of particle acceleration. The morphology of the worm broadly resembles some known pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) but there is no known pulsar or PWN which could be powering this structure. We also present eROSITA observations of the field; no part of the nebula is detected in X-rays, but the current limits do not preclude the existence of a pulsar/PWN of intermediate spin-down luminosity.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 May 2023 12:52 |
Last Modified: | 26 May 2023 12:52 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac6fd3 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Astronomical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.3847/1538-4357/ac6fd3 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:199233 |