Revisiting the Chandra Observation on the Region of PSR J1809-1917: Indication of an X-ray Halo and Implication for the Origin of HESS J1809-193 (2303.14946v2)

Abstract: HESS J1809-193 is an extended TeV $\gamma$-ray source and the origin of its $\gamma$-ray emission remains ambiguous. Pulsar wind nebula (PWN) of PSR J1809-1917 laying inside the extended $\gamma$-ray emission is a possible candidate. Powered by the central pulsar, ultrarelativistic electrons in PWN can produce radio to X-ray emission through synchrotron and $\gamma$-ray emission by inverse Compton (IC) scattering. To check whether this PWN is the counterpart of HESS J1809-193, we analyzed Chandra X-ray radial intensity profile and the spectral index profile of this PWN. We then adopt a one-zone isotropic diffusion model to fit the keV and the TeV data. We find diffuse nonthermal X-ray emission extending beyond PWN, which is likely an X-ray halo radiated by escaping electron/positron pairs from the PWN. A relatively strong magnetic field of $\sim 20\,\mu$G is required to explain the spatial evolution of the X-ray spectrum (i.e., the significant softening of the spectrum with increasing distance from the pulsar), which, however, would suppress the IC radiation of pairs. Our result implies that a hadronic component may be needed to explain HESS J1809-193.