Abstract
We observed the isolated neutron star (NS) RX J2143.0+0654 with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the UVOIR wavelength range (0.14-1.7 μm). The UV part is consistent with a Rayleigh-Jeans tail of a thermal spectrum, fν ∝ ν2, while a power-law spectrum, fν ∝ να with α ∼ −0.8, dominates in the near-IR-optical. A joint fit of the UVOIR and contemporaneous X-ray spectra with a two-component blackbody with possible absorption features + power-law optical spectrum yields the following temperature and apparent radius of the colder component (which gives the main contribution in the UV): kTcold ≈ 45 eV and Rcold ≈ 6d260 km, where d260 is the distance in units of 260 pc. The temperature and radius of the hotter component, kThot ≈ 106 eV and Rhot ≈ 1.5d260 km; the parameters of an absorption feature at 0.74 keV; and the properties of X-ray pulsations are the same as found in previous X-ray observations. In the near-IR images, the NS is possibly surrounded by extended emission with a characteristic size of ∼2″ and flux densities of about 1.7 and 0.9 μJy at 1.54 and 1.15 μm, respectively. Comparison with a previous HST observation in the optical 14 yr ago shows a proper motion μ ≈ 6 mas yr−1, which corresponds to a small transverse velocity of 7d260 km s−1. It is consistent with the hypothesis that the NS was born in the vicinity of the solar system about 0.5 Myr ago.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 79 |
| Journal | Astrophysical Journal |
| Volume | 996 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2026 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science
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