High-energy characteristics of the schizophrenic pulsar PSR J1846-0258 in Kes 75

Abstract

PSR J1846-0258 is a radio-quiet rotation-powered pulsar at the center of Supernova remnant Kes 75. It is the youngest pulsar (~723 year) of all known pulsars and slows down very predictably since its discovery in 2000. Till June 7, 2006 very stable behavior has been displayed both in the temporal and spectral domains with pulsed emission detectable by INTEGRAL IBIS ISGRI and RXTE HEXTE up to ~150 keV. Then, a dramatic brightening was detected of the pulsar during June 7-12, 2006 Chandra observations of Kes 75. This radiative event, lasting for ~55 days, was accompanied by a huge timing glitch, reported on for the first in present work. Moreover, several short magnetar-like bursts were discovered. In this work not only the time-averaged pre-outburst X-ray/soft gamma-ray characteristics are discussed in detail, but also the spectral evolution during the outburst and its relaxation phase are addressed using RXTE PCA and HEXTE and INTEGRAL IBIS ISGRI data.