Recently, HESS has revealed two sources of very high energy emission spatiallycoincident with the two pulsar wind nebulae of the Kookaburra complex. The TeVsource HESS J1420-607 is coincident with the radio structure K3 associated tothe pulsar wind nebula powered by PSR J1420-6048. ASCA observations of the PWNhave revealed a clearly extended structure with a photon spectral index of 1.6apparently inconsistent with the steeper TeV spectrum, which probes lower energyelectrons. Recent Chandra observations showed a surprisingly faint compactstructure, although a faint arc is visible near the pulsar. We propose a deepXMM observation of the PWN of PSR J1420-6047 to determine its completemorphology, and fully characterize its spectrum along the nebula.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2008-02-15T17:34:58Z/2008-02-16T05:10:39Z
Version
17.56_20190403_1200
Mission Description
The European Space Agencys (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESAs second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations. Since Earths atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis.
European Space Agency, Dr R gis Terrier, 2009, 'Spectral and spatial characteristics of PSR J1420-6047 nebula', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-sp51g0p
