Mass-loading of bow shock pulsar wind nebulae

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of bow shock nebulae created by pulsars moving supersonically through a partially ionized interstellar medium. A fraction of interstellar neutral hydrogen atoms penetrating into the tail region of a pulsar wind will undergo photo-ionization due to the UV light emitted by the nebula, with the resulting mass loading dramatically changing the flow dynamics of the light leptonic pulsar wind. Using a quasi 1-D hydrodynamic model of relativistic flow we find that if a relatively small density of neutral hydrogen, as low as 10⁻⁴ cm⁻³, penetrate inside the pulsar wind, this is sufficient to strongly affect the tail flow. Mass loading leads to the fast expansion of the pulsar wind tail, making the tail flow intrinsically non-stationary. The shapes predicted for the bow shock nebulae compare well with observations, both in Hα and X-rays.