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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Christopher Hales
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Institute of Physics Publishing, 2009.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
The "Mouse" (PWN G359.23-0.82) is a spectacular bow shock pulsar wind nebula, powered by the radio pulsar J1747-2958. The pulsar and its nebula are presumed to have a high space velocity, but their proper motions have not been directly measured. Here we present 8.5 GHz interferometric observations of the Mouse nebula with the Very Large Array, spanning a time baseline of 12 years. We measure eastward proper motion for PWN G359.23-0.82 (and hence indirectly for PSR J1747-2958) of 12.9 ± 1.8 mas yr-1, which at an assumed distance of 5 kpc corresponds to a transverse space velocity of 306 ± 43 km s-1. Considering pressure balance at the apex of the bow shock, we calculate an in situ hydrogen number density of approximately 1.0+0.4 -0.2cm-3 for the interstellar medium through which the system is traveling. A lower age limit for PSR J1747-2958 of 163+28 -20 kyr is calculated by considering its potential birth site. The large discrepancy with the pulsar's spin-down age of 25 kyr is possibly explained by surface dipole magnetic field growth on a timescale ≈ 15 kyr, suggesting possible future evolution of PSR J1747-2958 to a different class of neutron star. We also argue that the adjacent supernova remnant G359.1-0.5 is not physically associated with the Mouse system but is rather an unrelated object along the line of sight. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Author(s): Hales CA, Gaensler BM, Chatterjee S, Van Der Swaluw E, Camilo F
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Astrophysical Journal
Year: 2009
Volume: 706
Issue: 2
Pages: 1316-1322
Print publication date: 11/11/2009
Date deposited: 30/06/2017
ISSN (print): 0004-637X
ISSN (electronic): 1538-4357
Publisher: Institute of Physics Publishing
URL: https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/706/2/1316
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/706/2/1316
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