3C 58

3C 58
3c58_xray_pullout.jpg
X-ray image of 3C 58 by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
The pullout box shows the inner toroidal-shaped nebula
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Cassiopeia
Right ascension 02h 05m 38s
Declination +64° 49.7′
Apparent magnitude (V) 8.17
Characteristics
Spectral type III[1]
Astrometry
Distance10,000 ly
(3067.48 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)3.70
Details
Mass1.36–1.52[1] M☉
Temperature150,000[1] K
Rotation65.7159285 ms
Age3500 years
Other designations
SNR G130.7+03.1, ASB 5, RX J0205.5+6449, 1RXS J020529.7+644934, PSR J0205+6449[1]
Database references
SIMBADdata

3C 58 or 3C58 is a pulsar (designation PSR J0205+6449) and supernova remnant (pulsar wind nebula) within the Milky Way. The object is listed as No. 58 in the Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources.

It is located 2° northeast of ε Cassiopeiae and is estimated to be 10,000 light-years away. Its rotation period is 65.7 ms (so PSR J0205+6449 does not belong to the class of millisecond pulsars).

The pulsar is notable for its very high rate of cooling, which is unexplained by standard models of neutron star formation. It is hypothesized that extreme conditions in the star's interior cause a high neutrino flux, which carries away the energy so that the star cools.[2][1] 3C 58 has been proposed as a possible quark star, also referred to as a strange star.[3][4]

The age of the 3C 58 remnant has been measured by a number of independent methods. The proper motion of the expanding optical shell of 3C 58 has been measured three times, always with an indicated age of around 3500 years, with this being the direct and distance-independent measure.[5] Estimates from the expansion measurements of the filamentary structure in the radio of the synchrotron nebula suggest the age to roughly 7000 years, independent of distance.[6] Several methods for estimating the remnant's age have proven to have such a large uncertainty as to not be useful, with these methods including those involving the pulsar energetics, the swept-up mass, the pulsar offset from the center of 3C 58, and the changing of the nebular radio brightness.[7] The spin-down age of the pulsar is 5380 years, while the cooling age of the neutron star is >5000 years. Taking all available evidence, 3C 58 has an age somewhere from 3500 to 5500 years.

From 1971 to 2021, 3C 58 has been speculatively connected to the Supernova of 1181 AD, as reported by Chinese and Japanese observers.[8] The basis for this was that 3C 58 was the only supernova remnant known in the large old historical region for the SN 1181. However, multiple factors, including the age (3500 to 5500 years) and energetics of the remnant, all point to 3C 58 as not being the remnant of SN 1181. Further, an analysis of the old East Asian reports used added information on the reported proximity to several old Chinese constellations, and concluded that 3C 58 is at a sky position far outside the error region of the observed SN 1181. A second conclusive argument is that the real remnant of SN 1181 was discovered by American amateur astronomer Dana Patchik, designated Pa 30. Pa 30 is known from multiple independent measures to be a supernova remnant with an age close to 800 years, and it is inside the modern sky position for the 1181 supernova.[9][10][11][12][13] So 3C 58 is not the remnant left behind by the 1181 supernova.

  1. ^ a b c d e Yakovlev, D. G.; Kaminker, A. D.; Haensel, P.; Gnedin, O. Y. (2002). "The cooling neutron star in 3C 58". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 389: L24–L27. arXiv:astro-ph/0204233. Bibcode:2002A&A...389L..24Y. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020699. S2CID 6247160.
  2. ^ "Chandra :: Photo Album :: 3C58". Chandra.harvard.edu. 14 December 2004. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  3. ^ Cramer, John G. (November 2002). "Quark Stars". Analog Science Fiction & Fact Magazine. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  4. ^ "RX J1856.5-3754 (and the 3C58 Pulsar)". www.solstation.com. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  5. ^ Fesen, Robert; Rudie, Gwen; Hurford, Alan; Soto, Aljeandro (2008). "Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy of the Galactic Supernova Remnant 3C 58 (G130.7+3.1)". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 174 (2): 379–395. Bibcode:2008ApJS..174..379F. doi:10.1086/522781. S2CID 120672848.
  6. ^ Bietenholz, M. F. (1 July 2006). "Radio Images of 3C 58: Expansion and Motion of Its Wisp". The Astrophysical Journal. 645 (2): 1180–1187. arXiv:astro-ph/0603197. Bibcode:2006ApJ...645.1180B. doi:10.1086/504584. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 16820726.
  7. ^ Kothes, A. (2013). "Distance and age of the pulsar wind nebula 3C 58". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 560: A18. arXiv:1307.8384. Bibcode:2013A&A...560A..18K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219839. S2CID 118595074.
  8. ^ Stephenson, F. Richard (1971). "A Suspected Supernova in A. D. 1181". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 12: 10–38. Bibcode:1971QJRAS..12...10S.
  9. ^ Gvaramadze, Vasilii V.; et al. (2019). "A massive white-dwarf merger product before final collapse". Nature. 569 (7758): 684–687. arXiv:1904.00012. Bibcode:2019Natur.569..684G. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1216-1. PMID 31110332. S2CID 90260784.
  10. ^ Oskinova, Lidia M.; et al. (2020). "X-rays observations of a super-Chandrasekhar object reveal an ONe and a CO white dwarf merger product embedded in a putative SN Iax remnant". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 644: L8. arXiv:2008.10612. Bibcode:2020A&A...644L...8O. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039232. S2CID 221293111.
  11. ^ Ritter, Andreas; et al. (2021). "The Remnant and Origin of the Historical Supernova 1181 AD". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 918 (2): L33. arXiv:2105.12384. Bibcode:2021ApJ...918L..33R. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac2253.
  12. ^ Schaefer, Bradley E. (2023-08-01). "The path from the Chinese and Japanese observations of supernova 1181 AD, to a Type Iax supernova, to the merger of CO and ONe white dwarfs". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 523 (3): 3885–3904. arXiv:2301.04807. Bibcode:2023MNRAS.523.3885S. doi:10.1093/mnras/stad717. ISSN 0035-8711.
  13. ^ Fesen, Robert A.; Schaefer, Bradley E.; Patchick, Dana (2023-01-11). "Discovery of an Exceptional Optical Nebulosity in the Suspected Galactic SN Iax Remnant Pa 30 Linked to the Historical Guest Star of 1181 CE". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 945 (1): L4. arXiv:2301.04809. Bibcode:2023ApJ...945L...4F. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acbb67.