AAS 199th meeting, Washington, DC, January 2002
Session 126. Supernova Remnants
Display, Thursday, January 10, 2002, 9:20am-4:00pm, Monroe/Lincoln

[Previous] | [Session 126] | [Next]


[126.15] Chandra Observation of SNR G54.1+0.3--- a Close Cousin of the Crab Nebula

F. Lu, D. Wang (U. Massachusetts)

We present a Chandra ACIS observation of SNR G54.1+0.3. Morphologically, the supernova remnant is resolved into multiple X-ray emitting components. The bright central point-like source (CXOU J193030.13+185214.1) is clearly the putative pulsar; a surrounding torus most likely means the shock of an equatorial wind from the pulsar; two plumes are perhaps cocoons of jets laminating from the pulsar; extended low surface brightness emission represents the accumulated pulsar wind materials. Spectroscopically these components are all satisfactorily described by a power law; the spectrum becomes increasingly steep with increasing scale. Furthermore, no evidence for any thermal plasma emission is found that might represent the blast-wave of the remnant. SNR G54.1+0.3 is therefore the closest known ``cousin'' of the Crab nebula, which shows similar morphological and spectral characteristics.


[Previous] | [Session 126] | [Next]