Abstract
The discovery of a young, energetic X-ray pulsar associated with HESS
J1640-465 provided important new constraints on possible emission models
for this Galactic TeV source, the most luminous known. The 206 ms pulsar
PSR J1640-4631 and its surrounding PWN lie within SNR G338.3-0.0 and are
co-located with the gamma-ray source HESS J1640-465 and possibly 1FHL
J1640.5-4634. The NuSTAR discovery and subsequent spin-down measurements
imply Edot = 4.4E36 erg/s, Bs = 1.4E13 G, tau = 3350 yrs. The origin of
the gamma-ray emission is difficult to discern given the complex local
environment, both leptonic and hadronic models have been proposed. We
present an evolutionary SNR/PWN model fit to the spectral energy
distribution of HESS J1640-465 using updated spectral data and input
parameters. The pulsar energetics predict an initial spin period <15
ms and a braking index less than or equal to 2. A NuSTAR program to
measure the pulsar's braking index is underway to better constrain its
true age.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Journal | American Astronomical Society, HEAD meeting #11 |
| Volume | 14 |
| State | Published - Aug 1 2014 |