Discovery of a 112 ms X-Ray Pulsar in Puppis A: Further Evidence of Neutron Stars Weakly Magnetized at Birth

Abstract

We report the discovery of 112 ms X-ray pulsations from RX J0822-4300, the compact central object (CCO) in the supernova remnant (SNR) Puppis A, in two archival Newton X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission observations taken in 2001. The sinusoidal light curve has a pulsed fraction of 11% with an abrupt 180° change in phase at 1.2 keV. The observed phase shift and modulation are likely the result of emission from opposing thermal hot spots of distinct temperatures. Phase-resolved spectra reveal an emission feature at E _line = 0.8 keV associated with the cooler region, possibly due to an electron cyclotron resonance effect similar to that seen in the spectrum of the CCO pulsar 1E 1207.4-5209. No change in the spin period of PSR J0821-4300 is detected in seven months, with a 2σ upper limit on the period derivative of \dot{P} < 8.3 × 10^{-15}. This implies limits on the spin-down energy loss rate of \dot{E} < 2.3 \times 10^{35} erg s^-1, the surface magnetic dipole field strength B_s < 9.8 × 10¹¹ G, and the spin-down age τ _c > 220 kyr. The latter is much longer than the SNR age, indicating that PSR J0821-4300 was born spinning near its present period. Its properties are remarkably similar to those of the two other known CCO pulsars, demonstrating the existence of a class of neutron stars born with weak magnetic fields related to a slow original spin. These results are also of importance in understanding the extreme transverse velocity of PSR J0821-4300, favoring the hydrodynamic instability mechanism in the supernova explosion.