----- Attempting Submission 1 (Wed May 09 10:31:13 GMT 2007) ----- Assigned ID: 1066 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Tue Feb 06 12:16:39 GMT 2007) ----- Phase I Proposal 1066 (VELAJR_new) successfully submitted. Mapping the nebula surrounding the enigmatic X-ray source at the center of the Vela Jr SNR A compact X-ray source, showing nothing but steady unpulsed thermal emission, lies close to the center of the young and nearby supernova remnant dubbed "Vela Jr". It is a typical member of a class of enigmatic sources, supposed to be the youngest members of the radio-quiet neutron star family. Quite surprisingly, we discovered in ground-based optical observations a small Halpha nebula spatially coincident with the X-ray source. Such a nebula potentially carries very important information on the nature of the X-ray source, which remains elusive in spite of large observational efforts. We propose to use the WFPC2 to collect high resolution Halpha images of the nebula in order to resolve its structure, to understand its nature, and to identify its connection with the X-ray source. Addressing all these points will also have important implications for our interpretation of the compact X-ray source and on of other objects of the same class.
The observation is aimed at obtaining a precise high-resolution mapping in H-alpha ofthe nebula seen around the X-ray source at the center of the Vela Jr.SNR HOT STARS 12 false 0.0 false false false false false false SUPPORTED ISM EMISSION LINE NEBULA HOT GAS SHOCK FRONT R=23.1 +/- 0.2 J2000 08 52 1.3800 -46 17 53.34 J2000 WFPC2 Imaging No F656N C:\Documents and Settings\roberto mignani\Impostazioni locali\Temp\OPVisit55546.xml (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 11127 :visit-id "01" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20070326" :date "09-May-2007 11:30:50.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "26" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 179264 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 11127 :visit-id "01" :obset-id "01" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 11127 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 355 :si-vis-utilization 2820 :al-overhead-at-end 180 :internal-dur-at-end 0 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3183 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 1 0 C:\Documents and Settings\roberto mignani\Documenti\RMIGNANI\PROPOSALS\HST\CYCLE16\PHASE2\OP-cache\VELAJR_new-v01.xml