Guitar nebula: Extreme accelerator in extreme environment — E8 Intelligence Research

Guitar nebula is a prime example of a class of bow-shock pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), powered by a wind of a supersonically moving neutron star. Bow-shock PWNe can probe particle acceleration processes in relativistic pulsar winds, as well as the structure of the interstellar medium (ISM). We demonstrate that Guitar is an exceptional object in a number of ways. First, particles escaping the PWN and forming the X-ray "kinetic jet" need to be accelerated to the energies corresponding to the maximal electric potential of the neutron star ηacc≳3/4 : it is another example of the class of extreme accelerators. Second, exceptionally bright Hα emission requires that the central pulsar PSR J2225+6535 passes through a dense, low ionization ISM region. Bright X-ray emission of the "kinetic jet" then also requires excep Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com