X-rays from a dying pulsar

PSR J01081431 is a 170 Myr old, very faint radio pulsar at a distance of 240pc, among the nearest neutron stars to Earth. Thanks to its proximity, PSRJ01081431 offers a unique opportunity to study Xray emission from a very old,almost dead pulsar. A short Chandra observation has shown that it is muchbrighter in Xrays than one could expect for such an old pulsar with a very lowspindown power. However, the number of detected counts was too small todefinitively characterize its spectrum, and the time resolution too low todetect pulsations. The proposed study of the Xray spectrum and pulsations ofPSR J01081431 will provide first definitive results on the Xray properties ofvery old pulsars and test the pulsar evolution models. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]