X-ray Emission from the nearby PSR B1133+16

Abstract

We detected a nearby (d=360 pc), old (5 Myr) pulsar B1133+16 with Chandra. The observed pulsar's flux is $(0.8\pm 0.2)\times 10^{-14}$ ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the 0.5-8 keV band. Because of the small number of counts detected, the spectrum can be described by various models. A power-law fit of the spectrum gives a photon index $\Gamma = 2.5$ and an isotropic luminosity of $1.4\times 10^{29}$ ergs s$^{-1}$ in the 0.5-8 keV band, which is about $1.6\times 10^{-3}$ of the spin-down power $\dot{E}$. The spectrum can also be fitted by a blackbody model with a temperature of $\approx 2.8$ MK and a projected emitting area of $\sim 500$ m$^2$, possibly a hot polar cap. The X-ray properties of PSR B1133+16 are similar to those of other old pulsars observed in X-rays, particularly the drifting pulsar B0943+10.