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P.P. Plucinsky (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), J.R. Dickel (University of Illinois), P.O. Slane, T.J. Gaetz, M. Sasaki, R.J. Edgar (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), R.K. Smith (Johns Hopkins University)
We present a preliminary analysis of the XMM observation of the Galactic Supernova Remnant (SNR) MSH 15-56 (G326.3-1.8). MSH 15-56 is the archetypical composite SNR. It contains the third brightest radio plerion known, yet all searches for the putative pulsar have been unsuccessful. Our Chandra observation has revealed a point-like source with a diffuse nebula which is located just outside the radio synchrotron nebula. The Chandra spectrum is relatively hard and consistent with a power-law model. We will present a spectral analysis from the deeper XMM observations to confirm or refute the non-thermal nature of the emission and a timing analysis of the point-like source. We explore the possibility that this object could be the long-sought pulsar and associated X-ray synchrotron nebula in MSH 15-56.
This work was supported by NASA contract NAS8-03060.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.