657 research outputs found
The post-burst awakening of the anomalous x-ray pulsar in Westerlund
On 2006 September 21, an intense (~10^39 erg s^-1) and short (20 ms) burst was detected by Swift BAT at a position
consistent with that of the candidate anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) CXOU J164710.2-455216, discovered by
Chandra in 2005. Swift follow-up observations began ~13 hr after the event and found the source at a 1–10 keV flux
level of about 4.5 x 10^-11 erg cm^-2 s^-1, i.e., ~300 times brighter than measured 5 days earlier by XMM-Newton. We
report the results obtained from Swift BAT observations of the burst and subsequent Swift XRT observations carried
out during the first 4 months after the burst. These data are complemented with those from two XMM-Newton observations (carried out just before and after the BAT event) and four archival Chandra observations carried out
between 2005 and 2007. We find a phase-coherent solution for the source pulsations after the burst. The evolution of
the pulse phase comprises an exponential component decaying with timescale of 1.4 days, which we interpret as the
recovery stage following a large glitch (Δv/v ~ 6 x 10^-5). We also detect a quadratic component corresponding to a
spin-down rate of P ~ 9 x 10^-13 s s^-1, implying a magnetic field strength of 10^14 G. During the first Swift XRT
observation taken 0.6 days after the burst, the spectrum showed a kT ~0.65 keV blackbody (R_(BB) ~ 1.5 km) plus a
Γ ~ 2.3 power law accounting for about 60% of the 1–10 keV observed flux. Analysis of Chandra archival data,
taken during 2005 when the source was in quiescence, reveal that the modulation in quiescence is 100% pulsed at
energies above ~4 keV and consistent with the (unusually small-sized) blackbody component being occulted by the
neutron star as it rotates. These findings demonstrate that CXOU J164710.2-455216 is indeed an AXP; we compare
them with the properties of three other AXPs which displayed similar behavior in the past
The 2006 Outburst of the Magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216
We report on data obtained with the Chandra, XMM-Newton, Suzaku and Swift
X-ray observatories, following the 2006 outburst of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar
CXO J164710.2-455216. We find no evidence for the very large glitch and rapid
exponential decay as was reported previously for this source. We set a 3 sigma
upper limit on any fractional frequency increase at the time of the outburst of
Delta nu/nu < 1.5 x 10^{-5}. Our timing analysis, based on the longest time
baseline yet, yields a spin-down rate for the pulsar that implies a surface
dipolar magnetic field of ~9 x 10^{13} G, although this could be biased high by
possible recovery from an undetected glitch. We also present an analysis of the
source flux and spectral evolution, and find no evidence for long-term spectral
relaxation post-outburst as was previously reported.Comment: Submitted to Ap
The ReNoC Reconfigurable Network-on-Chip:Architecture, Configuration Algorithms, and Evaluation
Toward a standard Gamma Ray Burst: tight correlations between the prompt and the afterglow plateau phase emission
To reveal and understand astrophysical processes responsible for the Gamma
Ray Burst (GRB) phenomenon, it is crucial to discover and understand relations
between their observational properties. The presented study is performed in the
GRB rest frames and it uses a sample of 62 long GRBs from our sample of 77
Swift GRBs with known redshifts. Following the earlier analysis of the
afterglow {\it characteristic luminosity -- break time }
correlation for a sample of long GRBs \citep{Dainotti2010} we extend it to
correlations between the afterglow and the prompt emission GRB physical
parameters. We reveal a tight physical scaling between the mentioned afterglow
luminosity and the prompt emission {\it mean} luminosity . The distribution, with the Spearman correlation
coefficient reaching 0.95 for the data subsample with most regular light
curves, can be fitted with approximately .
We also analyzed correlations of with several other prompt emission
parameters, including the isotropic energy , the peak energy in the
spectrum, , and the variability parameter, , defined
by \cite{N000}. As a result, we reveal significant correlations also between
these quantities, with an exception of the variability parameter. The main
result of the present study is the discovery that the highest correlated GRB
subsample in the \citet{Dainotti2010} afterglow analysis, for the GRBs with
canonical X\,-\,ray light curves, leads also to the highest {\it
prompt-afterglow} correlations and such events can be considered to form a
sample of standard GRBs for astrophysics and cosmology.Comment: The Data Table will appear after the paper will be accepte
Timing behavior of the Magnetically Active Rotation-Powered Pulsar in the Supernova Remnant Kestevan 75
We report a large spin-up glitch in PSR J1846-0258 which coincided with the
onset of magnetar-like behavior on 2006 May 31. We show that the pulsar
experienced an unusually large glitch recovery, with a recovery fraction of
Q=8.7+/- 2.5, resulting in a net decrease of the pulse frequency. Such a glitch
recovery has never before been observed in a rotation-powered pulsar, however,
similar but smaller glitch over-recovery has been recently reported in the
magnetar AXP 4U~0142+61 and may have occurred in the SGR 1900+14. We also
report a large increase in the timing noise of the source. We discuss the
implications of the unusual timing behavior in PSR J1846-0258 on its status as
the first identified magnetically active rotation-powered pulsar.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal. Incorporates changes from an anonymous referee; additional analysis
and discussion include
Recent Progress on Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
I review recent observational progress on Anomalous X-ray Pulsars, with an
emphasis on timing, variability, and spectra. Highlighted results include the
recent timing and flux stabilization of the notoriously unstable AXP 1E
1048.1-5937, the remarkable glitches seen in two AXPs, the newly recognized
variety of AXP variability types, including outbursts, bursts, flares, and
pulse profile changes, as well as recent discoveries regarding AXP spectra,
including their surprising hard X-ray and far-infrared emission, as well as the
pulsed radio emission seen in one source. Much has been learned about these
enigmatic objects over the past few years, with the pace of discoveries
remaining steady. However additional work on both observational and theoretical
fronts is needed before we have a comprehensive understanding of AXPs and their
place in the zoo of manifestations of young neutron stars.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; to appear in proceedings of the conference
"Isolated Neutron Stars: From the Interior to the Surface" eds. S. Zane, R.
Turolla, D. Page; Astrophysics & Space Science in pres
Long-term spectral and timing properties of the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 1833-0832 and detection of extended X-ray emission around the radio pulsar PSR B1830-08
SGR 1833-0832 was discovered on 2010 March 19 thanks to the Swift detection
of a short hard X-ray burst and follow-up X-ray observations. Since then, it
was repeatedly observed with Swift, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, and
XMM-Newton. Using these data, which span about 225 days, we studied the
long-term spectral and timing characteristics of SGR 1833-0832. We found
evidence for diffuse emission surrounding SGR 1833-0832, which is most likely a
halo produced by the scattering of the point source X-ray radiation by dust
along the line of sight, and we show that the source X-ray spectrum is well
described by an absorbed blackbody, with temperature kT=1.2 keV and absorbing
column nH=(10.4+/-0.2)E22 cm^-2, while different or more complex models are
disfavoured. The source persistent X-ray emission remained fairly constant at
about 3.7E-12 erg/cm^2/s for the first 20 days after the onset of the bursting
episode, then it faded by a factor 40 in the subsequent 140 days, following a
power-law trend with index alpha=-0.5. We obtained a phase-coherent timing
solution with the longest baseline (225 days) to date for this source which,
besides period P=7.5654084(4) s and period derivative dP/dt=3.5(3)E-12 s/s,
includes higher order period derivatives. We also report on our search of the
counterpart to the SGR at radio frequencies using the Australia Telescope
Compact Array and the Parkes radio telescope. No evidence for radio emission
was found, down to flux densities of 0.9 mJy (at 1.5 GHz) and 0.09 mJy (at 1.4
GHz) for the continuum and pulsed emissions, respectively, consistently with
other observations at different epochs.Comment: 12 pages, 7 colour figures and 3 tables, accepted for publication in
MNRAS. Figure 6 in reduced quality and abstract abridged for astro-ph
submissio
Gravitational waves from single neutron stars: an advanced detector era survey
With the doors beginning to swing open on the new gravitational wave
astronomy, this review provides an up-to-date survey of the most important
physical mechanisms that could lead to emission of potentially detectable
gravitational radiation from isolated and accreting neutron stars. In
particular we discuss the gravitational wave-driven instability and
asteroseismology formalism of the f- and r-modes, the different ways that a
neutron star could form and sustain a non-axisymmetric quadrupolar "mountain"
deformation, the excitation of oscillations during magnetar flares and the
possible gravitational wave signature of pulsar glitches. We focus on progress
made in the recent years in each topic, make a fresh assessment of the
gravitational wave detectability of each mechanism and, finally, highlight key
problems and desiderata for future work.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. Chapter of the book "Physics and
Astrophysics of Neutron Stars", NewCompStar COST Action 1304. Minor
corrections to match published versio
Magnetic Field Generation in Stars
Enormous progress has been made on observing stellar magnetism in stars from
the main sequence through to compact objects. Recent data have thrown into
sharper relief the vexed question of the origin of stellar magnetic fields,
which remains one of the main unanswered questions in astrophysics. In this
chapter we review recent work in this area of research. In particular, we look
at the fossil field hypothesis which links magnetism in compact stars to
magnetism in main sequence and pre-main sequence stars and we consider why its
feasibility has now been questioned particularly in the context of highly
magnetic white dwarfs. We also review the fossil versus dynamo debate in the
context of neutron stars and the roles played by key physical processes such as
buoyancy, helicity, and superfluid turbulence,in the generation and stability
of neutron star fields.
Independent information on the internal magnetic field of neutron stars will
come from future gravitational wave detections. Thus we maybe at the dawn of a
new era of exciting discoveries in compact star magnetism driven by the opening
of a new, non-electromagnetic observational window.
We also review recent advances in the theory and computation of
magnetohydrodynamic turbulence as it applies to stellar magnetism and dynamo
theory. These advances offer insight into the action of stellar dynamos as well
as processes whichcontrol the diffusive magnetic flux transport in stars.Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures. Invited review chapter on on magnetic field
generation in stars to appear in Space Science Reviews, Springe
Strongly magnetized pulsars: explosive events and evolution
Well before the radio discovery of pulsars offered the first observational
confirmation for their existence (Hewish et al., 1968), it had been suggested
that neutron stars might be endowed with very strong magnetic fields of
-G (Hoyle et al., 1964; Pacini, 1967). It is because of their
magnetic fields that these otherwise small ed inert, cooling dead stars emit
radio pulses and shine in various part of the electromagnetic spectrum. But the
presence of a strong magnetic field has more subtle and sometimes dramatic
consequences: In the last decades of observations indeed, evidence mounted that
it is likely the magnetic field that makes of an isolated neutron star what it
is among the different observational manifestations in which they come. The
contribution of the magnetic field to the energy budget of the neutron star can
be comparable or even exceed the available kinetic energy. The most magnetised
neutron stars in particular, the magnetars, exhibit an amazing assortment of
explosive events, underlining the importance of their magnetic field in their
lives. In this chapter we review the recent observational and theoretical
achievements, which not only confirmed the importance of the magnetic field in
the evolution of neutron stars, but also provide a promising unification scheme
for the different observational manifestations in which they appear. We focus
on the role of their magnetic field as an energy source behind their persistent
emission, but also its critical role in explosive events.Comment: Review commissioned for publication in the White Book of
"NewCompStar" European COST Action MP1304, 43 pages, 8 figure
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