Evidence of a pulsar wind nebula in SN 1987A

3D ModelNoAI

X-ray emission of the remnant of SN 1987A as observed in 2014. Left panel: combined NuSTAR (blue/white) and Chandra (red/yellow; at the center of the NuSTAR image) count images of the remnant. Center panel: a zoom of the Chandra image together with the 3D spatial distribution of absorbing cold ejecta (white) and X-ray emission (red/yellow) synthesized from a 3D MHD model of SN 1987A (Orlando et al. 2020, A&A 636, id.A22). The center of the explosion and the position of the compact relic of the star predicted by the model are indicated at the center of the panel. Right panel: a zoom of the compact object representing a pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The simultaneous analysis of Chandra and NuSTAR observations mixed with the information from the MHD model provided a clear indication that a PWN is emitting synchrotron emission at the center of SN 1987A.

Reference: Greco et al. 2021, ApJL 908, L45