Searching for the Thermal Plasma in the Naked Pulsar Wind Nebula CTB 87

The missing thermal Xray emission from dozens of naked pulsar wind nebulae(PWNe) remains one of the most puzzling questions in the SNR field. Ourunderstanding of PWNe has been largely biased by the study of the brightest andyoungest objects, such as the Crab nebula. We propose a deep EPIC observation ofCTB 87. Our Chandra study, complemented with multiwavelength observations,suggests that this remnant is an evolved PWN, most likely crushed by thesupernova explosion.s reverse shock. Alternatively, a bowshock interpretationis also plausible. Our proposed observation will discriminate between these twoscenarios. XMMNewton is the ideal facility to perform a deep search for thethermal emission expected at the PWNreverse shock interaction site and from the longsought SNR shell. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]