Supernova (SN) explosions are crucial engines driving the evolution of galaxies by shock heating gas, increasing the metallicity, creating dust, and accelerating energetic particles. In 2012 we used the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array to observe SN 1987A, one of the best-observed supernovae since the invention of the telescope. We present spatially resolved images at 450 µm, 870 µm, 1.4 mm, and 2.8 mm, an important transition wavelength range. Longer wavelength emission is dominated by synchrotron radiation from shock-accelerated particles, shorter wavelengths by emission from the largest mass of dust measured in a supernova remnant (>0.2 M ). For the first time we show unambiguously that this dust has formed in the inner ejecta (the cold remnants of the exploded star's core). The dust emission is concentrated to the center of the remnant, so the dust has not yet been affected by the shocks. If a significant fraction survives, and if SN 1987A is typical, supernovae are important cosmological dust producers.

Magnetars are neutron stars with X-ray and soft γ-ray outbursts thought to be powered by intense internal magnetic fields. Like conventional neutron stars in the form of radio pulsars, magnetars exhibit 'glitches' during which angular momentum is believed to be transferred between the solid outer crust and the superfluid component of the inner crust. The several hundred observed glitches in radio pulsars and magnetars have involved a sudden spin-up (increase in the angular velocity) of the star, presumably because the interior superfluid was rotating faster than the crust. Here we report X-ray timing observations of the magnetar 1E 2259+586 (ref. 8), which exhibited a clear 'anti-glitch'--a sudden spin-down. We show that this event, like some previous magnetar spin-up glitches, was accompanied by multiple X-ray radiative changes and a significant spin-down rate change. Such behaviour is not predicted by models of neutron star spin-down and, if of internal origin, is suggestive of differential rotation in the magnetar, supporting the need for a rethinking of glitch theory for all neutron stars.

Swift J1822.3−1606 was discovered on 2011 July 14 by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope following the detection of several bursts. The source was found to have a period of 8.4377 s and was identified as a magnetar. Here we present a phase-connected timing analysis and the evolution of the flux and spectral properties using RXTE, Swift, and Chandra observations. We measure a spin frequency of 0.1185154343(8)s −1 and a frequency derivative of −4.3 ± 0.3 × 10 −15 at MJD 55761.0, in a timing analysis that include significant non-zero second and third frequency derivatives that we attribute to timing noise. This corresponds to an estimated spin-down inferred dipole magnetic field of B ∼ 5 × 10 13 G, consistent with previous estimates though still possibly affected by unmodelled noise. We find that the post-outburst 1-10 keV flux evolution can be characterized by a double-exponential decay with decay timescales of 15.5 ± 0.5 and 177 ± 14 days. We also fit the light curve with a crustal cooling model which suggests that the cooling results from heat injection into the outer crust. We find that the hardness-flux correlation observed in magnetar outbursts also characterizes the outburst of Swift J1822.3−1606. We compare the properties of Swift J1822.3−1606 with those of other magnetars and their outbursts. Subject headings: pulsars: individual (Swift J1822.3−1606) -stars: neutron -X-rays: bursts -X-rays: general 2. OBSERVATIONS 2.1. Swift Observations The Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT) consists of a Wolter-I telescope and an XMM-Newton EPIC-MOS CCD de-3 The surface dipolar component of the B-field can be estimated by B = 3.2 × 10 19 (PṖ ) 1/2 G.

We have applied the torus fitting procedure described in Ng & Romani (2004) to PWNe observations in the Chandra data archive. This study provides quantitative measurement of the PWN geometry and we characterize the uncertainties in the fits, with statistical errors coming from the fit uncertainties and systematic errors estimated by varying the assumed fitting model. The symmetry axis $\Psi$ of the PWN are generally well determined, and highly model-independent. We often derive a robust value for the spin inclination $\zeta$. We briefly discuss the utility of these results in comparison with new radio and high energy pulse measurementsComment: 15 pages, 3 figures, ApJ in pres