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Identification of radio and gamma-ray pulsars in X-rays using data from the SRG/eROSITA all-sky survey

Yu. A. Shibanov, A. V. Karpova, D. A. Zyuzin, M. R. Gilfanov

TL;DR

This study leverages the deep eROSITA all-sky X-ray survey to identify X-ray counterparts of known radio and gamma-ray pulsars in the eastern Galactic hemisphere, extending prior western-sky work. By cross-matching ATNF pulsars with the eROSITA X-ray source catalog and performing spectral analyses with multi-telescope data, the authors identify 12 new candidate counterparts and characterize their X-ray properties, including fluxes and spectral shapes, with additional cross-checks from Swift, Chandra, and ROSAT. The results show a diverse set of emission mechanisms, including non-thermal magnetospheric spectra and thermal surface components, and reveal several interesting cases such as potential X-ray emission from a second RRAT and thermal hot-spot emission in a gamma-ray pulsar. Overall, the work expands the census of X-ray pulsars, demonstrates eROSITA’s capability for pulsar identifications, and provides a foundation for follow-up timing and spectral studies to constrain neutron-star geometry, energetics, and atmosphere models.

Abstract

Using the data from the all-sky survey in soft X-rays performed by the eROSITA telescope onboard the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma observatory we identified known radio and $γ$-ray pulsars in the eastern half of the sky. As a result, new candidate counterparts were found for twelve pulsars of different ages and types at a $\gtrsim$ 3$σ$ confidence level. A comparable number had been previously identified in the western half of the sky. In total, this represents about 12\% of all known pulsars already detected in X-rays. For the new counterparts, we provide estimates of their X-ray fluxes, preliminary characteristics of their X-ray spectra, and brief descriptions of the pulsars' properties. In addition, in the eastern half of the sky eROSITA detected 55 pulsars previously identified in X-rays by other telescopes.

Identification of radio and gamma-ray pulsars in X-rays using data from the SRG/eROSITA all-sky survey

TL;DR

This study leverages the deep eROSITA all-sky X-ray survey to identify X-ray counterparts of known radio and gamma-ray pulsars in the eastern Galactic hemisphere, extending prior western-sky work. By cross-matching ATNF pulsars with the eROSITA X-ray source catalog and performing spectral analyses with multi-telescope data, the authors identify 12 new candidate counterparts and characterize their X-ray properties, including fluxes and spectral shapes, with additional cross-checks from Swift, Chandra, and ROSAT. The results show a diverse set of emission mechanisms, including non-thermal magnetospheric spectra and thermal surface components, and reveal several interesting cases such as potential X-ray emission from a second RRAT and thermal hot-spot emission in a gamma-ray pulsar. Overall, the work expands the census of X-ray pulsars, demonstrates eROSITA’s capability for pulsar identifications, and provides a foundation for follow-up timing and spectral studies to constrain neutron-star geometry, energetics, and atmosphere models.

Abstract

Using the data from the all-sky survey in soft X-rays performed by the eROSITA telescope onboard the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma observatory we identified known radio and -ray pulsars in the eastern half of the sky. As a result, new candidate counterparts were found for twelve pulsars of different ages and types at a 3 confidence level. A comparable number had been previously identified in the western half of the sky. In total, this represents about 12\% of all known pulsars already detected in X-rays. For the new counterparts, we provide estimates of their X-ray fluxes, preliminary characteristics of their X-ray spectra, and brief descriptions of the pulsars' properties. In addition, in the eastern half of the sky eROSITA detected 55 pulsars previously identified in X-rays by other telescopes.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 20 sections, 1 equation, 1 figure, 3 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The sample of pusars for the X-ray identification
  3. X-ray data and the search for candidate counterparts
  4. eROSITA data processing and the search method
  5. Search results
  6. Data from other X-ray telescopes and spectral analysis
  7. Properties of the pulsars and their likely counterparts
  8. 1. PSR J0006$+$1834
  9. 2. PSR J0242$+$6256
  10. 3. PSR J0248$+$6021
  11. 4. PSR J1125$+$7819
  12. 5. PSR J1544$+$4937
  13. 6. PSR J1602$+$3901
  14. 7. PSR J1630$+$3734
  15. 8. PSR J1658$+$3630
  16. ...and 5 more sections

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: 15$^{\prime}$$\times$ 15$^{\prime}$ images of the pulsars' fields as seen by eROSITA in the 0.3--2.3 keV range. The pulsars' positions are shown by the dashed circles with the radius of 40$^{\prime\prime}$. In the 1$.\mkern-4mu^\prime$8 $\times$ 1$.\mkern-4mu^\prime$8 insets the white circles show the position uncertainties of the X-ray sources while the pulsars' positions are marked with the yellow crosses.