A Broadband Study of the Emission from the Composite Supernova Remnant MSH 11-62

P. Slane , J. P. Hughes , T. Temim , R. Rousseau (1) , D.L Castro , D. Foight , B. M. Gaensler , S. Funk , M. Lemoine-Goumard (1) , J. D. Gelfand , D.A. Moffett , R. G. Dodson , J. P. Bernstein

1 ASTRO - Astroparticules

MSH 11-62 (G291.1-0.9) is a composite supernova remnant for which radio and X-ray observations have identified the remnant shell as well as its central pulsar wind nebula. The observations suggest a relatively young system expanding into a low density region. Here we present a study of MSH 11-62 using observations with the Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Fermi observatories, along with radio observations from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). We identify a compact X-ray source that appears to be the putative pulsar that powers the nebula, and show that the X-ray spectrum of the nebula bears the signature of synchrotron losses as particles diffuse into the outer nebula. Using data from the Fermi LAT, we identify gamma-ray emission originating from MSH 11-62. With density constraints from the new X-ray measurements of the remnant, we model the evolution of the composite system in order to constrain the properties of the underlying pulsar and the origin of the gamma-ray emission.

Mots clés: ISM: supernova remnants; radiation mechanisms: non-thermal; stars: neutron; ISM: individual objects (MSH-11-62)

Domaines: Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]; Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]

P. Slane, J. P. Hughes, T. Temim, R. Rousseau, D.L Castro, et al.. A Broadband Study of the Emission from the Composite Supernova Remnant MSH 11-62. The Astrophysical Journal, 2012, 749, pp.131. ⟨10.1088/0004-637X/749/2/131⟩. ⟨in2p3-00698357⟩