High-resolution X-ray imaging of the supernova remnant MSH 15-52

We present high-resolution ROSAT observations of PSR 1509-58 and the supernova remnant MSH 15-52. The pulsar itself is resolved from the surrounding synchrotron nebula as a 75 per cent pulsed point source. The synchrotron emission forms a broad, elongated cross centred on the pulsar, and an extrapolation of the north-western arm of the cross to the supernova remnant rim coincides with the RCW 89 H alpha nebula. More than half of the X-ray flux in RCW 89 is resolved into a partial ring of tight knots that closely follow the radio morphology of the region. We suggest that all of the X-ray emission in the field of PSR 1509-58 can be explained if the system is similar to the 'torus' and 'jets' of the Crab pulsar synchrotron nebula, but viewed at more than similar to 70 degrees to the pulsar spin axis. For current theories, this inclination favours pulsar emission from the outer, rather than the inner, magnetosphere. The luminosity of RCW 89 is driven in our model by the pulsar wind, which suggests that the NW-SE axis of the synchrotron nebula marks a collimated outflow along the pulsar spin axis, making PSR 1509-58 the third example of an isolated pulsar with a polar outflow.