Neutron Stars - Thermal

A search for thermal emission from cooling neutron stars has yielded seven objects. Their X-ray luminosities are shown as a function of age: the Vela pulsar (asterisks); the three middle-aged pulsars PSR 0656+14, Geminga and PSR 1055-52 (diamonds); the X-ray point sources in the supernova remnants RCW 103, Puppis A and PKS 1209-52 (small diamonds). Upper limits are shown for the Crab pulsar and PSR 1509-58 (bullets). For comparison the cooling curves for standard cooling for a medium stiff equation of state and accelerated cooling due to the effects of a Bose-Einstein condensate are shown. The diagram shows the bolometric luminosities for these objects.

[ROSAT HRI image of SNR RCW 103] [X-ray luminosities of thermal NSs as a function of age]

Becker, W. and J. Trümper, The X-ray luminosity of rotation-powered neutron stars, Astron. & Astrophys. 326, 682-691 (1997)

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