Abstract
THE link between supernova explosions and the formation of neutron stars seems to be rather well established, even if only type II supernovae are expected to leave a stellar remnant1.However, only five examples of pulsar/supernova remnant associations are known in our Galaxy, and one in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Notwithstanding a further thirty examples1,2where plerionic radio or non-thermal X-ray emission indirectly implies the presence of an active neutron star, each possible pulsar/supernova remnant association remains interesting and useful. Here we report new measurements at 90-cm wavelength, which show that the W30 supernova remnant G8.7–0.1 is large, roughly shell-shaped, and more extended than previously thought. PSR1800–21, one of the youngest galactic pulsars, seems to lie within the western extension of the remnant. At a distance determined to be∼5.5 kpc, G8.7– 0.1 seems to be close to PSR1800-21 in space as well as on the sky, and estimates3–5indicate that the two objects are of similar age. Thus, a physical relation seems possible, but raises the dynamical problem of having a simultaneously born pulsar travel to a position near the edge of a supernova remnant within its visible lifetime. We discuss possible solutions to this difficulty.
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Kassim, N., Weiler, K. A possible new association of a pulsar with a supernova remnant. Nature 343, 146–148 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/343146a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/343146a0
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