SIMBAD references

Energetic pulsars can be embedded in a nebula of relativistic leptons that is powered by the dissipation of the rotational energy of the pulsar. The object PSRJ0855-4644 is an energetic and fast-spinning pulsar ({dot}(E)=1.1x10³⁶erg/s, P=65ms) discovered near the southeast rim of the supernova remnant (SNR) RXJ0852.0-4622 (aka Vela Jr) by the Parkes multibeam survey. The position of the pulsar is in spatial coincidence with an enhancement in X-rays and TeV γ-rays, which could be due to its putative pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The purpose of this study is to search for diffuse non-thermal X-ray emission around PSRJ0855-4644 to test for the presence of a PWN and to estimate the distance to the pulsar. An X-ray observation was carried out with the XMM-Newton satellite to constrain the properties of the pulsar and its nebula. The absorption column density derived in X-rays from the pulsar and from different regions of the SNR rim was compared with the absorption derived from the atomic (HI) and molecular (¹²CO) gas distribution along the corresponding lines of sight to estimate the distance to the pulsar and to the SNR. The observation has revealed the X-ray counterpart of the pulsar together with surrounding extended emission, thus confirming the existence of a PWN. The comparison of column densities provided an upper limit to the distance to the pulsar PSRJ0855-4644 and the SNR RX J0852.0-4622 (d≤900pc). Although both objects are at compatible distances, we rule out that the pulsar and the SNR are associated. With this revised distance, PSRJ0855-4644 is the second most energetic pulsar, after the Vela pulsar, within a radius of 1 kpc and could therefore contribute to the local cosmic-ray e^–/e⁺ spectrum.