The Tail of PSR J0002+6216 and the Supernova Remnant CTB 1

Abstract

We have carried out VLA imaging and a Fermi timing analysis of the 115 ms γ-ray and radio pulsar PSR J0002+6216. We found that the pulsar lies at the apex of a narrowly collimated cometary-like 7 tail of non-thermal radio emission which we identify as a bow-shock pulsar wind nebula. The tail of the nebula points back toward the geometric center of the supernova remnant CTB 1 (G116.9+0.2) 28 away, at a position angle θ µ = 113 • . We measure a proper motion with 2.9 σ significance from a Fermi timing analysis giving µ=115±33 mas yr −1 and θ µ = 121 • ± 13 • , corresponding to a large transverse pulsar velocity of 1100 km s −1 at a distance of 2 kpc. This proper motion is of the right magnitude and direction to support the claim that PSR J0002+6216 was born from the same supernova that produced CTB 1. We explore the implications for pulsar birth periods, asymmetric supernova explosions, and mechanisms for pulsar natal kick velocities.

Radio Counterpart Candidates to 4FGL-DR2 Unassociated Sources

“…A full analysis of these fields is ongoing and in preparation, but our pilot observations (project 17B-384) has provided a significant number of new association candidates. These include some quite exotic sources, such as a "cannonball" pulsar (Schinzel et al 2019) and a somewhat more mysterious radio source which had pulses detected by the realfast system (Law et al 2018) running concur-rent with our observations. The exact nature of the latter source is still unknown, and further observations are ongoing to learn more about this potential association candidate.…”

A supernova remnant association for the fast-moving pulsar PSR J0908-4913

“…The pulsar is currently situated on the edge of the structure with its proper motion vector points directly away from the centre of emission, lending credence to a link between the two. We also note the similarities between this and several other systems: SNR W44 with PSR B1853+01 (Jones et al 1993;Frail et al 1996), CTB 80 with PSR B1951+32 (Castelletti et al 2003), PSR J0002+6216 with CTB 1 (Schinzel et al 2019), PSR J0538+2817 with S147 (Kramer et al 2003;Ng et al 2007) and SNR G5.4-1.2 with PSR B1757-24 (Manchester et al 1991;Gaensler & Frail 2000). In W44, CTB 80 and S147 the pulsar is embedded within the shell, whereas in G5.4-1.2, the pulsar has just exited its parent shell and in CTB 1 the high-velocity pulsar has escaped its shell entirely.…”

“…The characteristic age, 𝜏 𝑐 , of the pulsar given by 𝜏 𝑐 = 𝑃/(2 𝑃) where 𝑃 is the spin period and 𝑃 its derivative is 110 kyr, considerably higher than the kinematic age. In the examples of similar systems mentioned above, that the kinematic age of PSR B1757-24 is much larger than its 𝜏 𝑐 (Gaensler & Frail 2000), with the opposite being true for PSR B1951+32 (Zeiger et al 2008), PSR J0002+6216 (Schinzel et al 2019) and PSR J0538+2817 (Kramer et al 2003), while for PSR B1853+01 the ages roughly agree. It should be noted that 𝜏 𝑐 comes with several caveats; it assumes a very fast initial spin period and a braking index of 𝑛 = 3, neither of which are well established (Johnston & Karastergiou 2017;Parthasarathy et al 2020).…”

A nearby recent supernova that ejected the runaway star ζ Oph, the pulsar PSR B1706−16, and 60Fe found on Earth

“…Then, we also added PSR J0002+6216 (Schinzel et al 2019) and the faint object, possibly a planet candidate, close to Fomalhaut, which can be a background neutron star (Neuhäuser et al 2015). In total, we then have 400 neutron stars with sufficient astrometric data.…”