NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
"Magnetar-like Emission from the Young Pulsar in Kes 75"Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) are thought to be magnetars - isolated neutron stars with ultra-high magnetic fields. These sources exhibit X-ray and gamma-ray bursts, and week to month-long flux enhancements, all too bright to be accounted for by their spindown luminosity. A mystery in neutron star astrophysics is why such emission has never been seen from rotation-powered pulsars with magnetar-like fields. Here we report the first detection of magnetar-like X-ray bursts from what has been long thought to be a rotation-powered pulsar, PSR 51846-0258, at the center of the supernova remnant Kes 75. PSR J1846-0258 has an inferred surface dipolar magnetic field of 4.9 X 1103 G, which is sixth highest among the > 1700 known rotation-powered pulsars, but less than those of the approximately 12 confirmed magnetars. The bursts coincided with a sudden flux increase and an unprecedented change in timing behavior, f m l y establishing PSR 51 846-0258 as a rotation-powered pulsar/magnetar transition object. These observations demonstrate that magnetar-like emission can be seen from sources with fields lower than the magnetars, and suggest that the intensity of magnetar-like activity in neutron stars depends on magnetic field strength in a more continuous way than previously thought.
Document ID
20080044043
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Gavrill, R.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Gonzalez, M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Livingstone, M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Gotthelf, E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Kaspi, V.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Woods, P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
March 31, 2008
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: HEAD 2008
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: March 31, 2008
End Date: April 3, 2008
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNH06CC03B
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available