New optical/ultraviolet counterparts and the spectral energy distributions of nearby, thermally emitting, isolated neutron stars

Abstract

We present Hubble Space Telescope optical and ultraviolet photometry for five nearby, thermally emitting neutron stars. With these measurements, all seven such objects have confirmed optical and ultraviolet counterparts. Combining our data with archival space-based photometry, we present spectral energy distributions for all sources and measure the "optical excess": the factor by which the measured photometry exceeds that extrapolated from X-ray spectra. We find that the majority have optical and ultraviolet fluxes that are inconsistent with that expected from thermal (Rayleigh-Jeans) emission, exhibiting more flux at longer wavelengths. We also find that most objects have optical excesses between 5 and 12, but that one object (RXJ2143.0+0654) exceeds the X-ray extrapolation by a factor of more than 50 at 5000Å, and that this is robust to uncertainties in the X-ray spectra and absorption. We consider explanations for this ranging from atmospheric effects, magnetospheric emission, and resonant scattering, but find that none is satisfactory. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.