X-ray Variability from the Compact Source in the Supernova Remnant RCW 103
Abstract
A new ASCA observation of 1E 161348-5055, the central compact X-ray source in the supernova remnant RCW 103, reveals an order-of-magnitude decrease in its 3 - 10 keV flux since the previous ASCA measurement four years earlier. This result is hard to reconcile with suggestions that the bulk of the emission is simple quasi-blackbody, cooling radiation from an isolated neutron star. Furthermore, archived EINSTEIN and ROSAT datasets spanning 18 years confirm that this source manifests long-term variability, to a lesser degree. This provides a natural explanation for difficulties encountered in reproducing the original EINSTEIN detection of 1E 161348-5055. Spectra from the new data are consistent with no significant spectral change despite the decline in luminosity. We find no evidence for a pulsed component in any of the data sets, with a best upper limit on the pulsed modulation of 13 percent. We discuss the phenomenology of this remarkable source.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9901371,
title = {X-ray Variability from the Compact Source in the Supernova Remnant RCW 103},
author = {E. V. Gotthelf and R. Petre and G. Vasisht},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9901371},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
5 pages with 2 embedded figures, LaTex, emulateapj.sty. To appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters