Abstract. The young PSR B0540-69.3 in the LMC is the only pulsar (except the Crab pulsar) for which a near-UV spectrum has been obtained. However, the absolute flux and spectral index of the HST/FOS spectrum are significantly higher than suggested by previous broad-band time-resolved groundbased UBVRI photometry. To investigate this difference, observations with ESO/VLT/FORS1 and analysis of HST/WFPC2 archival data were done. We show that the HST and VLT spectral data for the pulsar have > ∼ 50% nebular contamination and that this is the reason for the above-mentioned difference. The broadband HST spectrum for the range 3300-8000 Å is clearly nonthermal and has a negative spectral index, F ν ∝ ν −α with α ν = 1.0719 . This is different from the almost flat spectrum of the Crab pulsar, and also steeper than for the previously published broadband photometry of PSR B0540-69.3. We have also studied the spatial variations of the brightness and spectral index of the Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) around the pulsar, and find no significant spectral index variation over the PWN. The HST data show a clear asymmetry of the surface brightness distribution along the major axis of the torus-like structure of the PWN with respect to the pulsar position, also seen in Chandra/HRC X-ray images. This is different from the Crab PWN and likely linked to the asymmetry of the surrounding SN ejecta. The HST/WFPC2 archival data have an epoch separation of 4 years, and this allows us to estimate the proper motion of the pulsar. We find a motion of 4.9 ± 2.3 mas yr −1 (corresponding to a transverse velocity of 1190 ± 560 km s −1 ) along the southern jet of the PWN. If this is confirmed at a higher significance level by future observations, this makes PSR B0540-69.3 the third pulsar with a proper motion aligned with the jet axis of its PWN, which poses constraints on pulsar kick models. To establish the multiwavelength spectrum of the pulsar and its PWN, we have included recent Chandra X-ray data, and discuss the soft pulsar X-ray spectrum based on spectral fits including absorption by interstellar gas in the Milky Way, LMC as well as the supernova ejecta. We have compared the multiwavelength spectra of PSR B0540-69.3 and the Crab pulsar, and find that both PSR B0540-69.3 and the Crab pulsar have a weaker flux in the optical than suggested by a low-energy power-law extension of the X-ray spectrum. This optical depression is more severe for PSR B0540-69.3 than for the Crab pulsar. The same trend is seen for the PWNe of the two pulsars, and continues for low energies also out in the radio band. We discuss possible interpretations of this behavior.

Ages and thermal luminosities of neutron stars, inferred from observations, can be interpreted with the aid of the neutron star cooling theory to gain information on the properties of superdense matter in neutron-star interiors. We present a survey of estimated ages, surface temperatures, and thermal luminosities of middle-aged neutron stars with relatively weak or moderately strong magnetic fields, which can be useful for these purposes. The catalogue includes results selected from the literature, supplemented with new results of spectral analysis of a few cooling neutron stars. The data are compared with the theory. We show that overall agreement of theoretical cooling curves with observations improves substantially for models where neutron superfluidity in stellar core is weak.

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Abstract. We report on the first detection of the Vela pulsar in the near-infrared with the VLT/ISAAC in the J s and H bands. The pulsar magnitudes are J s = 22.71 ± 0.10 and H = 22.04 ± 0.16. We compare our results with the available multiwavelength data and show that the dereddened phase-averaged optical spectrum of the pulsar can be fitted with a power law F ν ∝ ν −αν with α ν = 0.12 ± 0.05, assuming the color excess E B−V = 0.055 ± 0.005 based on recent spectral fits of the emission of the Vela pulsar and its supernova remnant in X-rays. The negative slope of the pulsar spectrum is different from the positive slope observed over a wide optical range in the young Crab pulsar spectrum. The near-infrared part of the Vela spectrum appears to have the same slope as the phase-averaged spectrum in the high energy X-ray tail, obtained in the 2−10 keV range with the RXTE. Both of these spectra can be fitted with a single power law suggesting their common origin. Because the phase-averaged RXTE spectrum in this range is dominated by the second X-ray peak of the pulsar light curve, coinciding with the second main peak of its optical pulse profile, we suggest that this optical peak can be redder than the first one. We also detect two faint extended structures in the 1. 5−3. 1 vicinity of the pulsar, projected on and aligned with the south-east jet and the inner arc of the pulsar wind nebula, detected in X-rays with Chandra. We discuss their possible association with the nebula.

Abstract. We present the results of broad-band photometry of the nearby middle-aged radio pulsar PSR B0656+14 and its neighborhood obtained with the 6-meter telescope of the SAO RAS and with the Hubble Space Telescope. The broad-band spectral flux Fν of the pulsar decreases with increasing frequency in the near-IR range and increases with frequency in the near-UV range. The increase towards UV can be naturally interpreted as the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the soft thermal component of the X-ray spectrum emitted from the surface of the cooling neutron star. Continuation of the power-law component, which dominates in the high-energy tail of the X-ray spectrum, to the IR-optical-UV frequencies is consistent with the observed fluxes. This suggests that the nonthermal pulsar radiation may be of the same origin in a broad frequency range from IR to hard X-rays. We also studied 4 objects detected within 5 from the pulsar.