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[24.15] CHANDRA Observations of the Synchrotron Nebula in MSH15-56

P.P. Plucinsky (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), J.R. Dickel (University of Illinois), P.O. Slane, R.J. Edgar, T.J. Gaetz (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), R.K. Smith (Johns Hopkins University)

We report on a Chandra observation of the galactic supernova remnant (SNR) MSH15-56 (G326.3-1.8). MSH15-56 is the archetypical composite SNR. It contains the third brightest radio plerion known, yet all searches for the putative pulsar have been unsuccessful. Our analysis of ASCA data indicated that there is a localized region of hard X-ray emission a few arcminutes from the brightest part of the radio plerion. Our followup Chandra observation has resolved this region of hard X-ray emission into three sources. Two of the sources are apparently unrelated background sources. The third source consists of a faint point-like object and a diffuse nebula. We explore the possibility that this object could be the long-sought pulsar and associated X-ray synchrotron nebula in MSH15-56.

This work was supported by NASA contract GO1-2061X.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.