An imaging and spectral study of 10 X-ray filaments around the galactic center

We report the detection of 10 new X-ray filaments using the data from the Chandra X-ray satellite for the inner 6 ' (similar to 15 pc) around the Galactic center ( GC). All these X-ray filaments are characterized by nonthermal energy spectra, and most of them have pointlike features at their heads that point inward. Fitted with the simple absorbed power-law model, the measured X-ray flux from an individual filament in the 2-10 keV band is similar to 2.8 x 10(-14) to 10(-13) ergs cm(-2) s(-1), and the absorption-corrected X-ray luminosity is similar to 10(32)-10(33) ergs s(-1) at a presumed distance of 8 kpc to the GC. We speculate the origin(s) of these filaments by morphologies and by comparing their X-ray images with the corresponding radio and infrared images. On the basis of the combined information available, we suspect that these X-ray filaments might be pulsar wind nebulae associated with pulsars of ages 10(3) to 3 x 10(5) yr. The fact that most of the filament tails point outward may further suggest a high-velocity wind blowing away from the GC.