Two populations are better than one: Short gamma-ray bursts from SGR giant flares and NS-NS mergers
Robert Chapman, Robert S. Priddey, Nial R. Tanvir
备注：
3 pages, 7 figures. To be included in the proceedings of "40 Years of Pulsars" held at McGill University, Montreal, 2007. Proceedings to be published by American Institute of Physics
With a peak luminosity of ~10^47 erg/s, the December 27th 2004 giant flare from SGR1806-20 would have been visible by BATSE (the Burst and Transient Source Experiment) out to ~50 Mpc. It is thus plausible that some fraction of the short duration Gamma-Ray Bursts (sGRBs) in the BATSE catalogue were due to extragalactic magnetar giant flares. According to the most widely accepted current models, the remaining BATSE sGRBs were most likely produced by compact object (neutron star-neutron star or neutron star-black hole) mergers with intrinsically higher luminosities. Previously, by examining correlations on the sky between BATSE sGRBs and galaxies within 155 Mpc, we placed limits on the proportion of nearby sGRBs. Here, we examine the redshift distribution of sGRBs produced by assuming both one and two populations of progenitor with separate Luminosity Functions (LFs). Using the local Galactic SGR giant flare rate and theoretical NS-NS merger rates evolved according to well-known Star Formation Rate parameterisations, we constrain the predicted distributions by BATSE sGRB overall number counts. We show that only a dual population consisting of both SGR giant flares and NS-NS mergers can reproduce the likely local distribution of sGRBs as well as the overall number counts. In addition, the best fit LF parameters of both sub-populations are in good agreement with observed luminosities.
Giant flares from soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are one of the most violent phenomena in neutron stars. Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) with frequencies ranging from 18 to 1840 Hz have been discovered in the tails of giant flares from two SGRs, and were ascribed to be seismic vibrations or torsional oscillations of magnetars. Here we propose an alternative explanation for the QPOs in terms of standing sausage mode oscillations of flux tubes in the magnetar coronae. We show that most of the QPOs observed in SGR giant flares could be well accounted for except for those with very high freque…
The soft gamma repeater (SGR) 1900+14 emitted the giant flare on 27 August 1998. Most gamma-ray detectors saturated during the initial spike of the giant flare because of the intense flux. However the plasma particle detector onboard GEOTAIL observed the first 300 ms time profile with a time resolution of 5.577 ms and the initial spike of the giant flare was first resolved. The time profile shows some similarities to that of the SGR 1806-20 giant flare in 2004: the clear exponential decay and the small hump in the decay phase around 300 or 400 ms.
We report on the results of a ~30 ks Chandra pointing of the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 1806-20, the first X-ray observation with high spectral resolution performed after the 2004 December 27 Giant Flare. The source was found in a bursting active phase and with a significantly softer spectrum than that of the latest observations before the Giant Flare. The observed flux in the 2-10 keV range was ~2.2 x10^-11 erg/s/cm^2, about 20% lower than that measured three months before the event. This indicates that, although its giant flare was ~100 times more intense than those previously observed in t…
On 2004 December 27, a highly-energetic giant flare was recorded from the magnetar candidate SGR 1806-20. In the months preceding this flare, the persistent X-ray emission from this object began to undergo significant changes. Here, we report on the evolution of key spectral and temporal parameters prior to and following this giant flare. Using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, we track the pulse frequency of SGR 1806-20 and find that the spin-down rate of this SGR varied erratically in the months before and after the flare. Contrary to the giant flare in SGR 1900+14, we find no evidence for a …
We report the high S/N observation on October 3, 2002 with XMM-Newton of the brightest X-ray flare detected so far from SgrA* with a duration shorter than one hour (~ 2.7 ks). The light curve is almost symmetrical with respect to the peak flare, and no significant difference between the soft and hard X-ray range is detected. The overall flare spectrum is well represented by an absorbed power-law with a soft photon spectral index of Gamma=2.5+/-0.3, and a peak 2-10 keV luminosity of 3.6 (+0.3-0.4) x 10^35 erg/s, i.e. a factor 160 higher than the Sgr A* quiescent value. No significant spectral c…
[truncated] In Spring 2007, we observed SgrA* with XMM with a total exposure of ~230ks. We have performed timing and spectral analysis of the new X-ray flares detected during this campaign. To study the range of flare spectral properties, in a consistent manner, we have also reprocessed, using the same analysis procedure and the latest calibration, archived XMM data of previously reported rapid flares. The dust scattering was taken into account during the spectral fitting. We also used Chandra archived observations of the quiescent state of SgrA* for comparison. On April 4, 2007, we observed f…
We show that the giant flares of soft-gamma ray repeaters (E~10^44 ergs) can push the inner regions of a fall-back disk out to larger radii by radiation pressure, while matter remains bound to the system for plausible parameters. The subsequent relaxation of this pushed-back matter can account for the observed enhanced X-ray emission after the August 27 giant flare of SGR 1900+14. Based on the results of our models, we estimate that the ratio of the fluences of the enhanced X-ray emissions to that of the preceding bursts remains constant for a particular SGR with similar preburst inner disk co…
There is increasing evidence of a local population of short duration Gamma-ray Bursts (sGRB), but it remains to be seen whether this is a separate population to higher redshift bursts. Here we choose plausible Luminosity Functions (LF) for both neutron star binary mergers and giant flares from Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGR), and combined with theoretical and observed Galactic intrinsic rates we examine whether a single progenitor model can reproduce both the overall BATSE sGRB number counts and a local population, or whether a dual progenitor population is required. Though there are large uncertai…
A giant flare from the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater SGR 1806-20 has been detected by several satellites on 2004 December 27. This tremendous outburst, the first one observed from this source, was a hundred times more powerful than the two previous giant flares from SGR 0525-66 and SGR 1900+14. We report the results obtained for this event with the Anticoincidence Shield of the SPI spectrometer on board the INTEGRAL satellite, which provides a high-statistics light curve at E>~80 keV. The flare started with a very strong pulse, which saturated the detector for ~0.7 s, and whose backscattered radiati…
We first review on the peculiar characteristics of the bursting and flaring activity of the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars. We then report on the properties of the SGR 1806-20's Giant Flare occurred on 2004 December 27th, with particular interest on the pre and post flare intensity/hardness correlated variability. We show that these findings are consistent with the picture of a twisted internal magnetic field which stresses the star solid crust that finally cracks causing the giant flare (and the observed torsional oscillations). This crustal fracturing is accompanied by …
Our central Galactic supermassive black hole, Sgr A*, exists mostly in a very stable, extremely low-luminosity (~10^{-9} L_Edd), thermal quiescent state, which is interrupted roughly daily by a brief, nonthermal X-ray flare. Because they are not accompanied by significant changes in the radio wavelengths, the flares make Sgr A* unusual in the context of black holes accreting at slightly higher rates. Those sources display a radio/X-ray luminosity correlation whose normalization scales with central mass, and that holds over orders of magnitude in accretion power. There is significant scatter in…
In December 2004, the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 1806-20 emitted the most powerful giant flare ever observed. This probably involved a large-scale rearrangement of the magnetosphere leading to observable variations in the properties of its X-ray emission. Here we present the results of the first Suzaku observation of SGR 1806-20, together with almost simultaneous observations with XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL. The source seems to have reached a state characterized by a flux close to the pre-flare level and by a relatively soft spectrum. Despite this, SGR 1806-20 remained quite active also after th…
We analyze the data obtained when the Konus-Wind gamma-ray spectrometer detected a giant flare in SGR 1806-20 on December 27, 2004. The flare is similar in appearance to the two known flares in SGR 0526-66 and SGR 1900+14 while exceeding them significantly in intensity. The enormous X-ray and gamma-ray flux in the narrow initial pulse of the flare leads to almost instantaneous deep saturation of the gamma-ray detectors, ruling out the possibility of directly measuring the intensity, time profile, and energy spectrum of the initial pulse. In this situation, the detection of an attenuated signal…
It was suggested that some of the short-duration Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) are giant flares of Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGR) in nearby galaxies. To test this hypothesis, I have constructed a sample of 47 short GRBs, detected by the Inter-Planetary Network (IPN), for which the position is constrained by at least one annulus on the celestial sphere. For each burst, I have checked whether its IPN 3-sigma error region coincides with the apparent disk of one of 316 galaxies found within 20 Mpc. I find a single match of a GRB with M74, which could, however, be due to a chance coincidence. I estimate t…
Sgr A* is considered to be a massive black hole at the Galactic center and is known to be variable in radio, millimeter, near-IR and X-rays. Recent multi-wavelength observing campaigns show a simultaneous X-ray and near-IR flare, as well as sub-millimeter and near-IR flares from Sgr A*. The flare activity is thought to be arising from the innermost region of Sgr A*. We have recently argued that the duration of flares in near-IR and submillimeter wavelengths implies that the burst of emission expands and cools on a dynamical time scale before the flares leave Sgr A*. The detection of radio flar…
On 2004 December 27, a giant flare from the soft gamma repeater 1806$-$20 was observed. The radiation mechanism of the initial peak of the flare would be controversial. In this letter we point out that very high-energy cosmic rays would be produced in the case that the flare was caused by internal shocks, as is usually considered for gamma-ray bursts. The highest energy of cosmic rays can reach $10^{19}$ eV, if the Lorentz factor of the shocks is sufficiently high. Future observations of cosmic rays will inform us about the mechanism of the giant flare.
A radio afterglow was detected following the 1998 August 27 giant flare from the soft gamma repeater (SGR) 1900+14. Its short-lived behavior is quite different from the radio nebula of SGR 1806-20, but very similar to radio afterglows from classic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Motivated by this, we attempt to explain it with the external shock model as invoked in the standard theory of GRB afterglows. We find that the light curve of this radio afterglow is not consistent with the forward shock emission of an ultra-relativistic outflow, which is suggested to be responsible for the initial hard spike…
We have observed a bright flare of Sgr A* in the near infrared with the adaptive optics assisted integral field spectrometer SINFON. Within the uncertainties, the observed spectrum is featureless and can be described by a power law. Our data suggest that the spectral index is correlated with the instantaneous flux and that both quantities experience significant changes within less than one hour. We argue that the near infrared flares from Sgr A* are due to synchrotron emission of transiently heated electrons, the emission being affected by orbital dynamics and synchrotron cooling, both acting …
Sgr A*, the putative black hole in our Galactic Center (GC), is extraordinary dim in all frequencies. Apparently the black hole is unable to accrete at the Bondi accretion rate for some reason. Another mystery of Sgr A* is the recently discovered large magnitude and short duration X-ray flares (Baganoff et al. 2001). Here we point out that X-ray flares should be expected from star passages through an inactive (i.e. formerly accreting) disk. There are thousands of stars in Sgr A* stellar cluster, and each star will pass through the disk twice per orbit. A shock hot enough to emit X-rays is form…
We employ a low angular momentum accretion-outflow scenario to model the flares emanating out from the central region of Sgr A$^*$. The primary donor for matter accreting onto the central SMBH of Sgr A$^*$ is assumed to be the WR star ISR 13 E3. We analytically calculate the specific energy and angular momentum density of stellar wind originating from ISR 13 E3 and study the dynamics of that wind down to the very close vicinity of the central SMBH of Sgr A$^*$. We show that on the way to the Galactic centre, such wind-fed accretion may encounter standing shocks and such shock drives outflow fr…
Japanese magnetospheric explorer GEOTAIL recorded a detailed light curve during the initial 600 msec of a giant flare from SGR 1806-20 on December 27, 2004. We show that the observed light curve is well explained by an emission from relativistically expanding fireballs, like those of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Especially, the observed rapid fading after 500msec suggests that ejecta is collimated in a jet. We derive an upper limit on the jet opening half-angle of 0.2 radian that is as narrow as those of GRBs.
Magnetars comprise two classes of rotating neutron stars (Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars), whose X-ray emission is powered by an ultrastrong magnetic field, B ~ 10^15 G. Occasionally SGRs enter into active episodes producing many short X-ray bursts; extremely rarely (about once per 50 years per source), SGRs emit a giant flare, an event with total energy at least 1000 times higher than their typical bursts. Here we report that, on 2004 December 27, SGR 1806-20 emitted the brightest extra-solar transient event ever recorded, even surpassing the full moon brightness for …
The giant flare observed on Dec. 27th 2004 from SGR 1806-20 has revived the idea that a fraction of short (<2 s) Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) is due to giant flares from Soft Gamma Ray Repeaters located in nearby galaxies. One of the distinguishing characteristics of these events is the thermal (black body) spectrum with temperatures ranging from ~50 to ~180 keV, with the highest temperature observed for the initial 0.2 s spike of the Dec. 27th 2004 event. We analyzed the spectra of a complete sample of short GRBs with peak fluxes greater than 4 photon s^(-1) cm^(-2) detected by BATSE. Of the 115 s…
On December 27, 2004, a giant flare from SGR 1806$-$20 was detected on earth. Its thermal spectrum and temperature suggest that the flare resulted from an energy release of about $10^{47}$ erg/sec close to the surface of a neutron star in the form of radiation and/or pairs. This plasma expanded under its own pressure producing a fireball and the observed gamma-rays escaped once the fireball became optically thin. The giant flare was followed by a bright radio afterglow, with an observable extended size, implying an energetic relativistic outflow. We revisit here the evolution of relativistic f…
The brightest giant flare from the soft $γ$-ray repeater (SGR) 1806-20 was detected on 2004 December 27. The isotropic-equivalent energy release of this burst is at least one order of magnitude more energetic than those of the two other SGR giant flares. Starting from about one week after the burst, a very bright ($\sim 80$ mJy), fading radio afterglow was detected. Follow-up observations revealed the multi-frequency light curves of the afterglow and the temporal evolution of the source size. Here we show that these observations can be understood in a two-component explosion model. In this mod…
We report on spectral and temporal results of the 40-700 keV observations, obtained with the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GRBM) on board BeppoSAX, of the two large flares from the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater SGR1900+14 occurred on August 27, 1998 and April 18, 2001. From their intensity, fluence and duration, the first one was classified as "giant" and the second as "intermediate". The spectral results have been obtained with an improved response function of the GRBM. We find that the two events have similar spectral properties, but different temporal properties. The major difference concerns the time…
We present the unsaturated peak profile of SGR 1900+14 giant flare on 1998 August 27. This was obtained by particle counters of the Low Energy Particle instrument onboard the GEOTAIL spacecraft. The observed peak profile revealed four characteristic structures: initial steep rise, intermediate rise to the peak, exponential decay and small hump in the decay phase. From this light curve, we found that the isotropic peak luminosity was $2.3\times10^{46}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and the total energy was $4.3 \times 10^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$ ($E\gtrsim$ 50 keV), assuming that the distance to SGR 1900+14 is 15 kpc…
The giant flare of 1998 August 27 from SGR 1900+14 was extraordinary in many ways: it was the most intense flux of gamma rays ever detected from a source outside our solar system; it was longer than any previously detected burst from a soft gamma repeater (SGR) in our Galaxy by more than an order of magnitude; and it showed a remarkable four-peaked, periodic pattern in hard X-rays with the same rotation period that was found modulating soft X-rays from the star in quiescence. The event was detected by several gamma-ray experiments in space, including the Ulysses gamma-ray burst detector and th…
The rapidly varying non-thermal X-ray emission observed from Sgr A* points to particle acceleration taking place close to the supermassive black hole. The TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1745-290 is coincident with Sgr A* and may be closely related to the X-ray emission. Simultaneous X-ray and TeV observations are required to elucidate the relationship between these two objects. Here we report on joint H.E.S.S./Chandra observations in July 2005, during which an X-ray flare was detected. Despite a factor >10 increase in the X-ray flux of Sgr A*, no evidence is found for an increase in the TeV gamma-…
We report the discovery of complex high frequency variability during the August 27, 1998 giant flare from SGR 1900+14 using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). We detect an 84 Hz oscillation (QPO) during a 1 s interval beginning approximately 1 min after the initial hard spike. The modulation amplitude is energy dependent, reaching a maximum of 26% (rms) for photons above 30 keV, and is not detected below 11 keV, with a 90% confidence upper limit of 14% (rms). Remarkably, additional QPOs are detected in the average power spectrum of data segments centered on the rotational phase at which t…
The X-ray mission Chandra has observed a dramatic X-ray flare -- a brightening by a factor of 50 for only three hours -- from Sgr A*, the Galactic Center supermassive black hole. Sgr A* has never shown variability of this amplitude in the radio and we therefore argue that a jump of this order in the accretion rate does not seem the likely cause. Based on our model for jet-dominated emission in the quiescent state of Sgr A*, we suggest that the flare is a consequence of extra electron heating near the black hole. This can either lead to direct heating of thermal electrons to T_e~6*10^11 K and s…
The Newtonian solid-mechanical theory of nodeless spheroidal and torsional of elastic seismic vibrations trapped in the crust of a quaking neutron star is outlined and applied to the modal classification of the quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of X-ray luminosity in the aftermath of giant flares in SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14. The presented analysis relies heavily on the Samuelsson-Andersson identification of the QPOs frequency from the range 30-200 Hz with those for torsional nodeless vibrations of multipole degree in the interval 2-12. Based on this identification, which is used to fix the…
Context: Recent near-infrared polarization measurements of SgrA* show that its emission is significantly polarized during flares and consists of a non- or weakly polarized main flare with highly polarized sub-flares. The flare activity suggests a quasi-periodicity of ~20 minutes in agreement with previous observations. Aims: By simultaneous fitting of the lightcurve fluctuations and the time-variable polarization angle, we address the question of whether these changes are consistent with a simple hot spot/ring model, in which the interplay of relativistic effects plays the major role, or wheth…
Context: The supermassive black hole at the Galactic center, SgrA*, shows frequent radiation outbursts, often called 'flares'. In the near-infrared some of these flares were reported as showing intrinsic quasi-periodicities. The flux peaks associated with the quasi-periodic behavior were found to be highly polarized. Aims: The aim of this work is to present new evidence to support previous findings of the properties of the polarized radiation from SgrA* and to again provide strong support for the quasi-periodicity of ~18+-3 min reported earlier. Methods: Observations were carried out at the Eu…
The extraordinary giant flare of 1998 August 27 from SGR 1900+14 was the most intense event ever detected from this or any other cosmic source (even more intense than the famous March 5th 1979 event). It was longer than any previous burst from SGR1900+14 by more than one order of magnitude, and it displayed the same 5.16-s periodicity in hard X-rays that was detected in the low energy X-ray flux of its quiescent counterpart. The event was detected by several gamma-ray experiments in space, among them the Ulysses gamma-ray burst detector and the BeppoSAX Gamma Ray Burst Monitor. These instrumen…
A cold neutral and extremely dim accretion disk may be present as a remnant of a past vigorous activity around the black hole in our Galactic Center (GC). Here we discuss ways to detect such a disk through its interaction with numerous stars present in the central ~0.1 parsec of the Galaxy. The first major effect expected is X-ray and near infrared (NIR) flares arising when stars pass through the disk. The second is eclipses of the stars by the disk. We point out conditions under which the properties of the expected X-ray flares are similar to those recently discovered by Chandra. Since orbits…
Stellar dynamics indicate the presence of a super massive 3-4x10^6 Msun solm black hole at the Galactic Center. It is associated with the variable radio, near-infrared, and X-ray counterpart Sagittarius A* (SgrA*). The goal is the investigation and understanding of the physical processes responsible for the variable emission from SgrA*. The observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (July 2005, May 2007) and the ACIS-I instrument aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory (July 2005). We find that for …
(abridged) We describe highlights of the results of two observing campaigns in 2004 to investigate the correlation of flare activity in Sgr A* in different wavelength regimes, using a total of nine ground and space-based telescopes. We report the detection of several new near-IR flares during the campaign based on {\it HST} observations. The level of near-IR flare activity can be as low as $\sim0.15$ mJy at 1.6 $μ$m and continuous up to about 40% of the total observing time. Using the NICMOS instrument on the {\it HST}, the {\it XMM-Newton} and CSO observatories, we also detect simultaneous br…
We report new simultaneous near-infrared/sub-millimeter/X-ray observations of the SgrA* counterpart associated with the massive 3-4x10**6 solar mass black hole at the Galactic Center. The main aim is to investigate the physical processes responsible for the variable emission from SgrA*. The observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and the ACIS-I instrument aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory as well as the Submillimeter Array SMA on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and the Very Large Array in New Mexico. We…
A model is presented for the quasiperiodic component of magnetar emission during the tail phase of giant flares. The model invokes modulation of the particle number density in the magnetosphere. The magnetospheric currents are modulated by torsional motion of the surface and we calculate that the amplitude of neutron star surface oscillation should be ~1% of the NS radius in order to produce the observed features in the power spectrum. Using an axisymmetric analytical model for structure of the magnetosphere of an oscillating NS, we calculate the angular distribution of the optical depth to th…
The recent detection of a three-hour X-ray flare from Sgr A* by Chandra provides very strong evidence for a compact emitting region near this supermassive black hole at the Galactic center. Sgr A*'s mm/sub-mm spectrum and polarimetric properties, and its quiescent-state X-ray flux density, are consistent with a model in which low angular momentum gas captured at large radii circularizes to form a hot, magnetized Keplerian flow within tens of Schwarzschild radii of the black hole's event horizon. In Sgr A*'s quiescent state, the X-ray emission appears to be produced by self-Comptonization (SSC)…
The giant flare of December 27, 2004 from SGR 1806-20 represents one of the most extraordinary events captured in over three decades of monitoring the gamma-ray sky. One measure of the intensity of the main peak is its effect on X- and gamma-ray instruments. RHESSI, an instrument designed to study the brightest solar flares, was completely saturated for ~0.5 s following the start of the main peak. A fortuitous alignment of SGR 1806-20 near the Sun at the time of the giant flare, however, allowed RHESSI a unique view of the giant flare event, including the precursor, the main peak decay, and th…
After a couple of years of quiescence, the soft gamma repeater SGR 1900+14 suddenly reactivated on 18 April 2001, with the emission of a very intense, long and modulated flare, only second in intensity and duration to the 27 August 1998 giant flare. BeppoSAX caught the large flare with its Gamma Ray Burst Monitor and with one of the Wide Field Cameras. The Wide Field Cameras also detected X-ray bursting activity shortly before the giant flare. A target of opportunity observation was started only 8 hours after the large flare with the Narrow Field Instruments, composed of two 60-ks long pointin…
Here we report on recent near-infrared observations of the Sgr A* counterpart associated with the super-massive ~ 4x10^6 M_sun black hole at the Galactic Center. We find that the May 2007 flare shows the highest sub-flare contrast observed until now, as well as evidence for variations in the profile of consecutive sub-flares. We modeled the flare profile variations according to the elongation and change of the shape of a spot due to differential rotation within the accretion disk.
We have performed monitoring observations of the flux density toward the Galactic center compact radio source, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), which is a supermassive black hole, from 1996 to 2005 using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, Japan. These monitoring observations of Sgr A* were carried out in the 3- and 2-mm (100 and 140 GHz) bands, and we have detected several flares of Sgr A*. We found intraday variation of Sgr A* in the 2000 March flare. The twofold increase timescale is estimated to be about 1.5 hr at 140 GHz. This intraday variability suggests that the ph…
The multi-wavelength observations of the 2004 December~27 Giant Flare (GF) from SGR 1806-20 and its long-lived radio afterglow are briefly reviewed. The GF appears to have been produced by a dramatic reconfiguration of the magnetic field near the surface of the neutron star, possibly accompanied by fractures in the crust. The explosive release of over 10^46 ergs (isotropic equivalent) powered a one-sided mildly relativistic outflow. The outflow produced a new expanding radio nebula, that is still visible over a year after the GF. Also considered are the constraints on the total energy in the G…
We report here on serendipitous observations of the intense gamma-ray flare from SGR 1806-20 that occured on 27 December 2004. Unique data from the Cluster and Double Star-2 satellites, designed to study the Earth's magnetosphere, provide the first observational evidence of three separate timescales within the early (first 100ms) phases of this class of events. These observations reveal that, in addition to the initial very steep (<0.25ms) X-ray onset, there is firstly a 4.9ms exponential rise timescale followed by a continued exponential rise in intensity on a timescale of 70ms. These three t…
XMM-Newton observed the soft gamma repeater SGR 1806-20 about two months after its 2004 December 27 giant flare. A comparison with the previous observations taken with the same instrument in 2003-2004 shows that the pulsed fraction and the spin-down rate have significantly decreased and that the spectrum slightly softened. These changes may indicate a global reconfiguration of the neutron star magnetosphere. The spectral analysis confirms that the presence of a blackbody component in addition to the power-law is required. Since this additional component is consistent with being constant with r…
The 2004 Dec. 27 giant Gamma-ray flare detected from the magnetar SGR 1806-20 created an expanding radio nebula which we have monitored with the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the Very Large Array. These data indicate that there was an increase in the observed flux ~25 days after the initial flare that lasted for ~8 days, which we believe is the result of ambient material swept-up and shocked by this radio nebula. For a distance to SGR 1806-20 of 15 kpc, using the properties of this rebrightening we infer that the initial blast wave was dominated by baryonic material of mass M>10^{24.5}…
We report on the first simultaneous near-infrared/X-ray detection of the Sgr A* counterpart which is associated with the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and the ACIS-I instrument aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We also report on quasi-simultaneous observations at a wavelength of 3.4 mm using the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) array. A flare was detected in the X-domain with an excess 2-8 keV luminosity of about…
Soft-gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are galactic X-ray stars that emit numerous short-duration (about 0.1 s) bursts of hard X-rays during sporadic active periods. They are thought to be magnetars: strongly magnetized neutron stars with emissions powered by the dissipation of magnetic energy. Here we report the detection of a long (380 s) giant flare from SGR 1806-20, which was much more luminous than any previous transient event observed in our Galaxy. (In the first 0.2 s, the flare released as much energy as the Sun radiates in a quarter of a million years.) Its power can be explained by a catast…
The Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 1900+14 entered a remarkable phase of activity during the summer of 1998. This activity peaked on August 27, 1998 when a giant periodic gamma-ray flare resembling the famous March 5, 1979 event from SGR 0526-66 was recorded. Two days later (August 29), a strong, bright burst was detected with RXTE and BATSE. This event reveals several similarities to the giant flares of August 27 and March 5, and shows a number of unique features not previously seen in SGR bursts. Unlike typically short SGR bursts, this event features a 3.5 s burst peak that was preceded by an exten…
Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) are "magnetars", a small class of slowly spinning neutron stars with extreme surface magnetic fields, ~10^15 gauss. On 2004 December 27, a giant flare was detected from the magnetar SGR 1806-20, the third such event ever recorded. This burst of energy was detected by a variety of instruments and even caused an ionospheric disturbance in the Earth's upper atmosphere recorded around the globe. Here we report the detection of a fading radio afterglow produced by this outburst, with a luminosity 500 times larger than the only other detection of a similar source. From da…
We present the results of Chandra, RXTE, and VLA observations of SGR 1900+14 in the immediate aftermath of its 2001 April 18 giant flare event. In the X-ray band we find the source in a pulsating and bursting state, with time-averaged 2--10 keV flux initially elevated by 20% above the source's previous quiescent periods. In the radio we establish upper limits on the strength of any persistent post-flare emission of 0.7 and 0.1 mJy at 1.4 GHz and 8.0 GHz, respectively. The position of the X-ray source is consistent, to approximately 1 arcsec precision, with the August 1998 VLA determination, an…
On December 27th 2004, a giant gamma flare from the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater 1806-20 saturated many satellite gamma-ray detectors. This event was by more than two orders of magnitude the brightest cosmic transient ever observed. If the gamma emission extends up to TeV energies with a hard power law energy spectrum, photo-produced muons could be observed in surface and underground arrays. Moreover, high-energy neutrinos could have been produced during the SGR giant flare if there were substantial baryonic outflow from the magnetar. These high-energy neutrinos would have also produced muons in an…
A time-variability study of the neutral iron line flux at 6.40keV in the Sgr B2 region from data of Suzaku and Chandra is presented. The highly ionized iron line at 6.68keV is due to Galactic Center Diffuse X-rays (GCDX), and is thus time invariable. By comparing the 6.68keV and 6.40keV line fluxes, we found that the 6.40keV flux from the SgrB2 complex region is time variable; particularly the giant molecular cloud M0.66-0.02, known as ``Sgr B2 cloud'' is highly variable. The variability of the 6.40keV line in intensity and spatial distribution strongly supports the scenario that the molecular…
Over a decade ago it was established that the remarkable high energy transients, known as soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs), are a Galactic population and originate from neutron stars with intense (<~ 10^15 G) magnetic fields ("magnetars"). On 27 December 2004 a giant flare (fluence >~ 0.3 erg/cm^2) was detected from SGR 1806-20. Here we report the discovery of a fading radio counterpart. We began a monitoring program from 0.2GHz to 250GHz and obtained a high resolution 21-cm radio spectrum which traces the intervening interstellar neutral Hydrogen clouds. Analysis of the spectrum yields the fir…
We report the detection of large flux changes in the persistent X-ray flux of SGR 1900+14 during its burst active episode in 1998. Most notably, we find a factor ~700 increase in the non-burst X-ray flux following the August 27th flare, which decayed in time as a power-law. Our measurements indicate that the pulse fraction remains constant throughout this decay. This suggests a global flux enhancement as a consequence of the August 27th flare rather than localized heating. While the persistent flux has since recovered to the pre-outburst level, the pulse profile has not. The pulse shape change…
We report on observations of SGR 1900+14 made with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and BeppoSAX during the April 2001 burst activation of the source. Using these data, we measure the spindown torque on the star and confirm earlier findings that the torque and burst activity are not directly correlated. We compare the X-ray pulse profile to the gamma-ray profile during the April 18 intermediate flare and show that (i) their shapes are similar and (ii) the gamma-ray profile aligns closely in phase with the X-ray pulsations. The good phase alignment of the gamma-ray and X-ray profiles sugg…
We estimate the high energy neutrino flux from the giant flare of SGR 1806-20 on December 27, 2004, which irradiated Earth with a gamma-ray flux ~10^4 times larger than the most luminous gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) ever detected. The Antarctic Cherenkov neutrino detector AMANDA was on-line during the flare, and may either have detected high energy neutrinos for the first time from a cosmic point source, or put constraints on the flare mechanism of magnetars. If TeV neutrinos are detected, one would expect also detectable EeV cosmic rays and possibly TeV gamma-ray emission in coincidence.
