SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL 72054

PROF. JULES PAUL HALPERN
JULES@ASTRO.COLUMBIA.EDU

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
550 WEST 120TH STREET
NEW YORK
NY USA 10027
Tel: (212) 854-2554 Fax: (212) 854-8121
Medium: CD ROM
Subject: SUPERNOVA REMNANTS AND GALACTIC DIFFUSE EMISSION

GEMINGA'S COMPLEX X-RAY SPECTRUM AND PULSE PROFILE


ABSTRACT

ASCA made the first detection of the Geminga pulsar in the 2-5 keV band, resolving the nature of its hardest X-rays in favor of nonthermal emission, and discovering a complex new pulse shape at these energies. We now propose to make a longer observation to better characterize Geminga's X-ray spectrum and pulse profile in terms of their thermal and nonthermal components, and also to study Geminga in the 4-10 keV range. These data will bear upon a number of fundamental problems in neutron star physics including high-energy emission from magnetospheric accelerators, interior cooling models, the properties of magnetized atmospheres, polar cap heating by energetic particles, and long-term timing behavior. Several of these issues are discussed in the proposal.

CO-INVESTIGATORS
CO-I NAME INSTITUTE COUNTRY
JOHN MATTOXBOSTON U.USA
GEORGE PAVLOVPENN STATE U.USA

TARGETS

TARGET NAMEPRIRADECTIMETCOFFGISSIS CNTOBS
1)GEMINGA
B
98.4758 17.7703
200 ks
N
N
P
0.01000
1