Modeling the X-Ray Emission of the Boomerang Nebula and Implication for Its Potential Ultrahigh-energy Gamma-Ray Emission
The Boomerang Nebula is a bright radio and X-ray pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by an energetic pulsar, PSR J2229+6114. It is spatially coincident with one of the brightest ultrahigh-energy (UHE; ≥100 TeV) gamma-ray sources, LHAASO J2226+6057. While X-ray observations have provided radial profiles...
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2024-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad87d2 |
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| author | Xiao-Bin Chen Xuan-Han Liang Ruo-Yu Liu Xiang-Yu Wang |
| author_facet | Xiao-Bin Chen Xuan-Han Liang Ruo-Yu Liu Xiang-Yu Wang |
| author_sort | Xiao-Bin Chen |
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| description | The Boomerang Nebula is a bright radio and X-ray pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by an energetic pulsar, PSR J2229+6114. It is spatially coincident with one of the brightest ultrahigh-energy (UHE; ≥100 TeV) gamma-ray sources, LHAASO J2226+6057. While X-ray observations have provided radial profiles for both the intensity and photon index of the nebula, previous theoretical studies have not reached an agreement on their physical interpretation, which also leads to different anticipation of the UHE emission from the nebula. In this work, we model its X-ray emission with a dynamical evolution model of PWN, considering both convective and diffusive transport of electrons. On the premise of fitting the X-ray intensity and photon index profiles, we find that the magnetic field within the Boomerang Nebula is weak (∼10 μ G in the core region and diminishing to 1 μ G at the periphery), which therefore implies a significant contribution to the UHE gamma-ray emission by the inverse Compton (IC) radiation of injected electron/positron pairs. Depending on the particle transport mechanism, the UHE gamma-ray flux contributed by the Boomerang Nebula via the IC radiation may constitute about 10%–50% of the flux of LHAASO J2226+6057 at 100 TeV and up to 30% at 500 TeV. Finally, we compare our results with previous studies and discuss potential hadronic UHE emission from the PWN. In our modeling, most of the spindown luminosity of the pulsar may be transformed into thermal particles or relativistic protons. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0af4bb716f174ce1bd4500ca662f5a9c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-0af4bb716f174ce1bd4500ca662f5a9c2024-11-21T08:20:59ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-01976217210.3847/1538-4357/ad87d2Modeling the X-Ray Emission of the Boomerang Nebula and Implication for Its Potential Ultrahigh-energy Gamma-Ray EmissionXiao-Bin Chen0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4907-6666Xuan-Han Liang1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3089-3762Ruo-Yu Liu2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1576-0961Xiang-Yu Wang3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5881-335XSchool of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of China ; ryliu@nju.edu.cn; Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University) , Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of China ; ryliu@nju.edu.cn; Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University) , Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of China ; ryliu@nju.edu.cn; Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University) , Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of China ; ryliu@nju.edu.cn; Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University) , Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of ChinaThe Boomerang Nebula is a bright radio and X-ray pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by an energetic pulsar, PSR J2229+6114. It is spatially coincident with one of the brightest ultrahigh-energy (UHE; ≥100 TeV) gamma-ray sources, LHAASO J2226+6057. While X-ray observations have provided radial profiles for both the intensity and photon index of the nebula, previous theoretical studies have not reached an agreement on their physical interpretation, which also leads to different anticipation of the UHE emission from the nebula. In this work, we model its X-ray emission with a dynamical evolution model of PWN, considering both convective and diffusive transport of electrons. On the premise of fitting the X-ray intensity and photon index profiles, we find that the magnetic field within the Boomerang Nebula is weak (∼10 μ G in the core region and diminishing to 1 μ G at the periphery), which therefore implies a significant contribution to the UHE gamma-ray emission by the inverse Compton (IC) radiation of injected electron/positron pairs. Depending on the particle transport mechanism, the UHE gamma-ray flux contributed by the Boomerang Nebula via the IC radiation may constitute about 10%–50% of the flux of LHAASO J2226+6057 at 100 TeV and up to 30% at 500 TeV. Finally, we compare our results with previous studies and discuss potential hadronic UHE emission from the PWN. In our modeling, most of the spindown luminosity of the pulsar may be transformed into thermal particles or relativistic protons.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad87d2Pulsar wind nebulaeX-ray sourcesGamma-ray sources |
| spellingShingle | Xiao-Bin Chen Xuan-Han Liang Ruo-Yu Liu Xiang-Yu Wang Modeling the X-Ray Emission of the Boomerang Nebula and Implication for Its Potential Ultrahigh-energy Gamma-Ray Emission The Astrophysical Journal Pulsar wind nebulae X-ray sources Gamma-ray sources |
| title | Modeling the X-Ray Emission of the Boomerang Nebula and Implication for Its Potential Ultrahigh-energy Gamma-Ray Emission |
| title_full | Modeling the X-Ray Emission of the Boomerang Nebula and Implication for Its Potential Ultrahigh-energy Gamma-Ray Emission |
| title_fullStr | Modeling the X-Ray Emission of the Boomerang Nebula and Implication for Its Potential Ultrahigh-energy Gamma-Ray Emission |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modeling the X-Ray Emission of the Boomerang Nebula and Implication for Its Potential Ultrahigh-energy Gamma-Ray Emission |
| title_short | Modeling the X-Ray Emission of the Boomerang Nebula and Implication for Its Potential Ultrahigh-energy Gamma-Ray Emission |
| title_sort | modeling the x ray emission of the boomerang nebula and implication for its potential ultrahigh energy gamma ray emission |
| topic | Pulsar wind nebulae X-ray sources Gamma-ray sources |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad87d2 |
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