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X-ray Halo of the Pulsar 4U 1538–52 from SRG Data

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Abstract

We present the first results of the SRG observation of the pulsar 4U 1538–52 based on ARC-XC and eROSITA data. An extended emission in the form of a halo is detected around the source in the 0.5–8 keV energy band. Our simulation has shown that its surface brightness distribution can be described by a two-component model composed of a flat disk \({\sim}250^{\prime\prime}\) in radius and a \(\beta\)-model with a characteristic size \({\sim}480^{\prime\prime}\). We have constructed a broadband spectrum of 4U 1538–52 in the energy range 0.5–30 keV, which can be fitted by a weakly absorbed (\(N_{\textrm{H}}\simeq 0.7\times 10^{22}\) cm\({}^{-2}\)) power law with a high-energy cutoff. In addition, iron emission lines are detected in the pulsar spectrum at 6–7 keV. We show that the observed halo spectrum is considerably softer (a power-law index \({\simeq}2.8\)) than the pulsar spectrum (a power-law index \({\simeq}0.9\)), consistent with the predictions of theoretical models for the X-ray scattering by dust.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In this study we used observational data from the ART-XC and eROSITA telescopes onboard the SRG observatory. The SRG observatory was built by Roskosmos in the interests of the Russian Academy of Sciences represented by its Space Research Institute (IKI) within the framework of the Russian Federal Space Program, with the participation of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). The SRG spacecraft was designed, built, launched, and is operated by the Lavochkin Association and its subcontractors. The science data are downlinked via the Deep Space Network Antennae in Bear Lakes, Ussuriysk, and Baykonur, funded by Roskosmos. The team of the Mikhail Pavlinsky ART-XC telescope thanks the Roskosmos Space Corporation, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Rosatom Space Corporation for their support of the designing and building of the telescope. The eROSITA X-ray telescope was built by a consortium of German Institutes led by MPE, and supported by DLR. The eROSITA data used in this work were processed using the eSASS software developed by the German eROSITA consortium and the proprietary data reduction and analysis software developed by the Russian eROSITA Consortium. A. Shtykovsky thanks the Russian Foundation for Basic Research for its support (project no. 20-32-90242).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    A. E. Shtykovsky, A. A. Lutovinov, R. A. Krivonos, M. R. Gilfanov, P. S. Medvedev, I. A. Mereminskiy, V. A. Arefiev, S. V. Molkov & R. A. Sunyaev

  2. National Research University ‘‘Higher School of Economics’’, 101100, Moscow, Russia

    A. E. Shtykovsky

  3. Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik, Postfach 1317, D-85741, Garching, Germany

    M. R. Gilfanov

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  1. A. E. Shtykovsky
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  2. A. A. Lutovinov
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  3. R. A. Krivonos
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  4. M. R. Gilfanov
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  5. P. S. Medvedev
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  6. I. A. Mereminskiy
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  7. V. A. Arefiev
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  8. S. V. Molkov
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  9. R. A. Sunyaev
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Correspondence to A. E. Shtykovsky.

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Translated by V. Astakhov

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Shtykovsky, A.E., Lutovinov, A.A., Krivonos, R.A. et al. X-ray Halo of the Pulsar 4U 1538–52 from SRG Data. Astron. Lett. 49, 240–248 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773723050031

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773723050031

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