Probing for Pulsars: An XMM Study of the Composite SNRs G327.1-1.1 and CTA1

While the typical cartoon picture of an SNR depicts an expanding shell of sweptup material and ejecta surrounding a rapidly spinning pulsar which powers a synchrotron nebula (plerion), the truth is that only about a dozen PSR/SNR associations are known. Nearly an equal number of SNRs show direct evidence for a pulsar in the form of a plerion being powered by such a central source. G327.11.1 and CTA 1 are two such SNRs for which emission from the shell as well as the plerion are observed, and the only two composite SNRs for which still unidentified compact sources which may be powering the plerions have been revealed. We propose XMM observations of these two SNRs in order to study the thermal and nonthermal emission as well as the properties of the truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]