Two Pulsar Wind Nebulae: Chandra/XMM-Newton Imaging of GeV J1417-6100

Abstract

We report on Chandra ACIS and XMM-Newton MOS/PN imaging observations of two pulsar wind nebulae (K3/PSR J1420-6048 and G313.3+0.1=`the rabbit') associated with the Galactic unidentified gamma-ray source GeV J1417-6100. With the excellent ACIS imaging, the very energetic pulsar PSR J1420-6048 is separated from its surrounding nebula. This nebula has surprisingly little compact structure, although a faint arc is seen near the pulsar. Similarly, two point sources are resolved in the rabbit nebula. The large XMM-Newton collecting area provides useful spectral constraints on the rabbit and the associated point sources. Based on spectra and X-ray morphology, we identify one point source as a plausible pulsar counterpart. Large backgrounds and low source counts limited pulse search sensitivities, but we report pulse upper limits and a candidate 108ms period for the rabbit pulsar based on the XMM-Newton data and an ACIS CC observation. Comparison of the X-ray images with high resolution ATCA radio maps shows that the non-thermal X-ray emission corresponds well with the radio structure.