Can a bright and energetic X-ray pulsar be hiding amid the debris of SN 1987A?

Understand

The mass of the stellar precursor of supernova (SN) 1987A and the burst of neutrinos observed at the moment of the explosion are consistent with the core-collapse formation of a neutron star.

• However, no compelling evidence for the presence in SN 1987A of a compact object of any kind has been found yet in any band of the electromagnetic spectrum, prompting questions on whether the neutron star survived and, if it did, on its properties.
• Starting from the analysis of recent Chandra observations, here we appraise the current observational situation.
• We derived limits on the X-ray luminosity of a compact object with a nonthermal, Crab-pulsar-like spectrum of the order of $\approx$$(1$-$5)\times10^{35}$ erg s$^{-1}$, corresponding to limits on the rotational energy loss of a possible X-ray pulsar in SN 1987A of $\approx$$(0.5$-$1.5)\times10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$.