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M.S.E. Roberts, V.M. Kaspi (McGill Univ.), G. Vasisht (JPL), M.J. Pivovaroff (Therma-wave Inc.), E.V. Gotthelf (Columbia Univ.), N. Kawai (RIKEN)
The young supernova remnant G11.2-0.3 is the proposed counterpart of the historical supernova of A.D. 386, one of only eight historical supernovae recorded in the past 2000 years. A fast (65-ms) spin-powered X-ray pulsar has been discovered coincident with G11.2-0.3 with a characteristic age of 24,000 years, much older than the SNR. We report on a Chandra ACIS imaging observation which, for the first time, clearly spatially separates the X-ray emission from the pulsar, plerion, and shell. Careful astrometric and spectral analyses of the pulsar and shell will be described, and their implications for constraining the distance and age of the system will be discussed. The evidence for the 386 A.D. association will be critically evaluated. We will also discuss the interesting morphology of the central plerion.
Support for this work comes from the Quebec Merit Fellowship program and a grant from the Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, operated by the Smithsonian Astropysical Observatory for and on behalf of NASA.