A 16 Millisecond X-Ray Pulsar in the Crab-Like SNR N157B: Fast Times at 30 Doradus

Abstract

The supernova remnant N157B (30 Dor B, SNR 0539-69.1, NGC 2060), located in the Tarantula Nebula of the Large Magellanic Cloud, has long been considered a possible Crab-like remnant. This hypothesis has been confirmed, quite spectacularly, with the discovery of PSR J0537-6910, the remarkable 16 ms X-ray pulsar in N157B. PSR J0537-6910 is the most rapidly spinning pulsar found to be associated with a supernova remnant. Here we report our discovery and summarize the properties of this pulsar and its supernova remnant.

6 pages, 5 eps figures, LaTex (memsait, epsf). To appear in a special issue of Memorie della Societa' Astronomica Italiana (Proceedings)