XMM-Newton observations of the Vela pulsar
arXiv:astro-ph/0306517 · doi:10.1016/j.asr.2003.06.017
Abstract
We present spectral analysis from XMM-Newton observations of the Vela pulsar. We analyzed thermal emission from the pulsar dominating below ~ 1 keV since extracted spectra are heavily contaminated by nebular emission at higher energy. Featureless high-resolution spectra of the Reflection Grating Spectrometer aboard XMM-Newton suggest the presence of a hydrogen atmosphere, as previously indicated by Chandra results. Both the temperature and radius are consistent with those values deduced from Chandra. The derived Chandra and XMM-Newton temperature of T^{\infty} ~ (6.4-7.1)*10^5 K at its age of ~10^4 years is below the standard cooling curve.
6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Adv Sp Res: Proceedings of the 34th COSPAR Scientific Assembly