A Search for Fallback Disks in Four Young Supernova Remnants
| dc.creator | Wang, Zhongxiang | |
| dc.creator | Kaplan, David L. | |
| dc.creator | Chakrabarty, Deepto | |
| dc.date | 2006-06-28 | |
| dc.date | 2006-10-04 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T10:39:25Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T10:39:25Z | |
| dc.description | We report on our search for the optical/infrared counterparts to the central compact objects in four young supernova remnants: Pup A, PKS 1209-52, RCW 103, and Cas A. The X-ray point sources in these supernova remnants are excellent targets for probing the existence of supernova fallback disks, since irradiation of a disk by a central X-ray source should lead to an infrared excess. We used ground-based optical and near-infrared imaging and Spitzer Space Telescope mid-infrared imaging to search for optical/infrared counterparts at the X-ray point source positions measured by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. We did not detect any counterparts, and hence find no evidence for fallback disks around any of these sources. In PKS 1209-52, we are able to exclude a nearby optical/infrared candidate counterpart. In RCW 103, a blend of 3 faint stars at the X-ray source position prevents us from deriving useful limits. For the other targets, the upper limits on the infrared/X-ray flux ratio are as deep as (1.0--1.7)$\times 10^{-4}$. Comparing these limits to the ratio of $\approx 6\times10^{-5}$ measured for 4U 0142+61 (a young pulsar recently found with an X-ray irradiated dust disk), we conclude that the non-detection of any disks around young neutron stars studied here are consistent with their relatively low X-ray luminosities, although we note that a similar dust disk around the neutron star in Pup A should be detectable by deeper infrared observations. | |
| dc.description | 9 pages, 5 figures, revised to address referee's comments, and accepted for publication in ApJ | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606686 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606686 | |
| dc.identifier | Astrophys.J.655:261-268,2007 | |
| dc.identifier | doi:10.1086/509869 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/181023 | |
| dc.subject | Astrophysics | |
| dc.title | A Search for Fallback Disks in Four Young Supernova Remnants | |
| dc.type | text |