AX J1845-0258 is a transient X-ray pulsar, with spin period of 6.97s, discovered with the ASCA satellite in 1993. Its soft spectrum and the possible association with a supernova remnant suggest that AX J1845-0258 might be a magnetar, but this has not been confirmed yet. A possible counterpart one order of magnitude fainter, AX J184453-025640, has been found in later X-ray observations, but no pulsations have been detected. In addition, some other X-ray sources are compatible with the pulsar location, which is in a crowded region of the Galactic plane. We have carried out a new investigation of all the X-ray sources in the ASCA error region of AX J1845-0258, using archival data obtained with Chandra in 2007 and 2010, and with XMM-Newton in 2010. We set an upper limit of 6% on the pulsed fraction of AX J184453-025640 and confirmed its rather hard spectrum (power law photon index of 1.2 +\- 0.3). In addition to the other two fainter sources already reported in the literature, we found other X-ray sources positionally consistent with AX J1845-0258. Although many of them are possibly foreground stars likely unrelated to the pulsar, at least another new source, CXOU J184457.5-025823, could be a plausible counterpart of AX J1845-0258. It has a flux of 6x10^{-14} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1} and a spectrum well fit by a power law with photon index ~1.3 and Nh ~ 10^{22} cm^{-2}.
We report the discovery of six new magnetar counterpart candidates from deep near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope imaging. The new candidates are among a sample of nineteen magnetars for which we present HST data obtained between 2018-2020. We confirm the variability of previously established near-infrared counterparts, and newly identify candidates for PSRJ1622-4950, SwiftJ1822.3-1606, CXOUJ171405.7-381031, SwiftJ1833-0832, SwiftJ1834.9-0846 and AXJ1818.8-1559 based on their proximity to X-ray localisations. The new candidates are compared with the existing counterpart population in terms of …
We report the discovery of a 4.5 um counterpart to the anomalous X-ray pulsar (magnetar) 1E 2259+586 with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The mid-infrared flux density is 6.3+/-1.0 uJy at 4.5 um and <20 uJy (at 95% confidence) at 8 um, or 0.02% of the 2-10 keV X-ray flux (corrected for extinction). Combining our Spitzer measurements with previously published near-infrared data, we show that the overall infrared emission from 1E 2259+586 is qualitatively similar to that from the magnetar 4U 0142+61. Therefore the passive X-ray-heated dust disk model originally developed for 4U 0142+61 might also a…
Within the magnetar scenario, the "twisted magnetosphere" model appears very promising in explaining the persistent X-ray emission from the Soft Gamma Repeaters and the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (SGRs and AXPs). In the first two papers of the series, we have presented a 3D Monte Carlo code for solving radiation transport as soft, thermal photons emitted by the star surface are resonantly upscattered by the magnetospheric particles. A spectral model archive has been generated and implemented in XSPEC. Here we report on the systematic application of our spectral model to different XMM-Newton and I…
The recent discovery of a Galactic fast radio burst (FRB) occurring simultaneously with an X-ray burst (XRB) from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 implies that at least some FRBs arise from magnetar activities. We propose that FRBs are triggered by crust fracturing of magnetars, with the burst event rate depending on the magnetic field strength in the crust. Since the crust fracturing rate is relatively higher in polar regions, FRBs are preferred to be triggered near the directions of multipolar magnetic poles. Crust fracturing produces Alfvén waves, forming a charge starved region in the …
It was proposed that a remnant stable magnetar could be formed in a binary neutron-star merger, leading to a fast X-ray transient (FXT) that can last for thousands of seconds. Recently, Xue et al. suggested that CDF-S XT2 was exactly such a kind of source. If confirmed, such emission can be used to search for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave events from binary neutron-star mergers that have short gamma-ray bursts and the corresponding afterglows seen off-axis and thus too weak to be detected. Here we report the discovery of three new FXTs, XRT 170901, XRT 030511, and XRT 1109…
In this work, we perform the detailed analysis of absorption features in spectra of magnetar candidates observed by XMM-Newton satellite. No significant line-like feature has been found. This negative result may indicate the possible presence of smoothing out the absorption features mechanisms.
We identify two candidate magnetars in archival X-ray observations of HESS detected shell-type SNRs. X-ray point sources in CTB 37B coincident with HESS J1713-381 and in G353.6-0.7 coincident with HESS J1731-347 both have AXP-like spectra, much softer than those of ordinary, rotation powered pulsars, and no optical/IR counterparts. The spectrum of CXOU J171405.7-381031 in CTB 37B has a hard excess above 6 keV, which may be similar to such components seen in some AXPs. A new Chandra observation of this object reveals a highly significant pulsed signal at P = 3.82 s with pulsed fraction f_p = 0.…
It is well established that magnetars are neutron stars with extreme magnetic fields and young ages, but the evolutionary pathways to their creation are still uncertain. Since most massive stars are in binaries, if magnetars are a frequent result of core-collapse supernovae, some fraction are expected to have a bound companion at the time of observation. In this paper, we utilise literature constraints, including deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, to search for bound stellar companions to magnetars. The magnitude and colour measurements are interpreted in the context of binary population syn…
We present deep observations of the field of the magnetar CXOJ164710.2-455216 in the star cluster Westerlund 1, obtained in the near-infrared with the adaptive optics camera NACO@VLT. We detected a possible candidate counterpart at the {\em Chandra} position of the magnetar, of magnitudes $\mathrm{J} = 23.5 \pm 0.2$, $\mathrm{H} = 21.0 \pm 0.1$, and $\mathrm{K}_\mathrm{S} = 20.4 \pm 0.1$. The K$_{\rm S}$-band measurements available for two epochs (2006 and 2013) do not show significant signs of variability but only a marginal indication that the flux varied (at the 2 $σ$ level), consistent wit…
We report the detection of extended emission around the anomalous X-ray pulsar AXP 1E1547.0-5408 using archival data of the Chandra X-ray satellite. The extended emission consists of an inner part, with an extent of 45arsec and an outer part with an outer radius of 2.9arcmin, which coincides with a supernova remnant shell previously detected in the radio. We argue that the extended emission in the inner part is the result of a pulsar wind nebula, which would be the first detected pulsar wind nebula around a magnetar candidate. Its ratio of X-ray luminosity to pulsar spin-down power is comparab…
A Coherent Search for New Galactic Magnetars using Fermi/GBM and follow-up Swift/BAT: 7 Candidates and a Large Burst Catalog
Weizmann Institute of Science（魏茨曼科学研究所）；University of California at Santa Barbara（加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校）；International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（印度基本研究学院国际理论科学中心）
We propose that observations of "hidden" magnetars in central compact objects can be used to probe crustal activity of neutron stars with large internal magnetic fields. Estimates based on calculations by Perna \& Pons (2011), Pons \& Rea (2012) and Kaminker et al. (2014) suggest that central compact objects, which are proposed to be "hidden" magnetars, must demonstrate flux variations on the time scale of months-years. However, the most prominent candidate for the "hidden" magnetars --- CXO J1852.6+0040 in Kes 79, -- shows constant (within error bars) flux. This can be interpreted by lower va…
Fast radio bursts are bright, millisecond-scale radio flashes of yet unknown physical origin. Recently, their extragalactic nature has been demonstrated and an increasing number of the sources have been found to repeat. Young, highly magnetized, isolated neutron stars - magnetars - have been suggested as the most promising candidates for fast radio burst progenitors owing to their energetics and high X-ray flaring activity. Here we report the detection with the Konus-Wind of a hard X-ray event of April 28, 2020, temporarily coincident with a bright, two-peak radio burst from the Galactic magne…
I review several scenarios of magnetar formation in binary systems via spin-up of a progenitor due to interaction with its companion. Mostly, these evolutionary channels lead to formation of isolated magnetars, and indeed, all well-established sources of this class are single objects. However, some binaries can survive, and several candidates to accreting magnetars have been proposed. I discuss this issue, and conclude that new accretion models can explain properties of the proposed candidates without large magnetic field in correspondence with models of magnetic field evolution.
We present detailed analysis of the transient X-ray source 2XMMi J003833.3+402133 detected by XMM-Newton in January 2008 during a survey of M 31. The X-ray spectrum is well fitted by either a steep power law plus a blackbody model or a double blackbody model. Prior observations with XMM-Newton, Chandra, Swift and ROSAT spanning 1991 to 2007, as well as an additional Swift observation in 2011, all failed to detect this source. No counterpart was detected in deep optical imaging with the Canada France Hawaii Telescope down to a 3sigma lower limit of g = 26.5 mag. This source has previously been …
Compact binary mergers may have already been observed as they are the leading model for short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs). Radioactive decay within the ejecta from these mergers is expected to produce an infra-red flare, dubbed macronova (or kilonova), on a time scale of a week. Recently two such macronova candidates were identified in followup observations of sGRBs, strengthening the possibility that those indeed arise from mergers. The same ejecta will also produce a long term (months to years) radio emission due to its interaction with the surrounding ISM. In search for this emission, we obser…
Magnetar counterparts, kinematics and birth sites with HST and JWST
European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC)（欧洲航天局（ESA）欧洲空间研究与技术中心（ESTEC））；Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University（拉德堡德大学天体物理学系/IMAPP）；Department of Physics, University of Warwick（华威大学物理系）；European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)（欧洲航天局（ESA）欧洲空间天文中心（ESAC））；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo（意大利国家天体物理研究所（INAF）- 巴勒莫天文台）；Department of Physics, The George Washington University（乔治华盛顿大学物理系）；GWU/Astronomy, Physics and Statistics Institute of Sciences (APSIS)（乔治华盛顿大学/天体物理学、物理学和统计学科学研究所（APSIS））；School of Physics and Astronomy, University（物理与天文学学院，大学）
Magnetars are believed to host the strongest magnetic fields in the present universe ($B\gtrsim10^{14}$ G) and the study of their persistent emission in the X-ray band offers an unprecendented opportunity to gain insight into physical processes in the presence of ultra-strong magnetic fields. Up to now, most of our knowledge about magnetar sources came from spectral analysis, which allowed to test the resonant Compton scattering scenario and to probe the structure of the star magnetosphere. On the other hand, radiation emitted from magnetar surface is expected to be strongly polarized and its …
Based on our new NuSTAR X-ray telescope data, we rule out any cyclotron line up to 60 keV in the spectra of the high mass X-ray binary 4U2206+54. In particular, we do not find any evidence of the previously claimed line around 30 keV, independently of the source flux, along the spin pulse. The spin period has increased significantly, since the last observation, up to $5750\pm10$ s, confirming the rapid spin down rate $\dot ν=-1.8\times 10^{-14}$~Hz s$^{-1}$. This behaviour might be explained by the presence of a strongly magnetized neutron star ($B_{\rm s}>$ several times $10^{13}$ G) accretin…
In October 2007 a hard X-ray burst was detected by the INTEGRAL satellite from a direction consistent with the position of AX J1818.8-1559, an X-ray source at low Galactic latitude discovered with the ASCA satellite in 1996-1999. The short duration (0.8 s) and soft spectrum (power law photon index of 3.0+/-0.2) of the burst in the 20-100 keV range are typical of Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars. We report on the results of an observation of AX J1818.8-1559 obtained with the Suzaku satellite in October 2011. The source spectrum, a power law with photon index 1.5, and flux 2x…
We present X-ray observations of the new transient magnetar Swift J1834.9-0846, discovered with Swift BAT on 2011 August 7. The data were obtained with Swift, RXTE, CXO, and XMM-Newton both before and after the outburst. Timing analysis reveals singe peak pulsations with a period of 2.4823 s and an unusually high pulsed fraction, 85+/-10%. Using the RXTE and CXO data, we estimated the period derivative, dot{P}=8\times 10^{-12} s/s, and confirmed the high magnetic field of the source, B=1.4\times 10^{14} G. The decay of the persistent X-ray flux, spanning 48 days, is consistent with a power law…
The soft gamma-ray repeater candidate SGR 0755$-$2933 was discovered in 2016 by Swift/BAT, which detected a short ($\sim$30 ms) powerful burst typical of magnetars. To understand the nature of the source, we present here an analysis of follow-up observations of the tentative soft X-ray counterpart of the source obtained with Swift/XRT, NuSTAR and Chandra. From our analysis we conclude that, based on the observed counterpart position and properties, it is actually not a soft gamma ray repeater but rather a new high mass X-ray binary. We suggest to refer to it as 2SXPS J075542.5$-$293353. We con…
We report broad-band Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the field of soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 0418+5729 with ACS/WFC and WFC3/IR. Observing in two wide filters F606W and F110W, we find no counterpart within the positional error circle derived from Chandra observations, to limiting magnitudes mF606W>28.6, mF110W>27.4 (Vega system), equivalent to reddening-corrected luminosity limits LF606W<5e28, LF110W<6e28 erg s-1 for a distance d=2 kpc, at 3sig confidence. This, in turn, imposes lower limits on the contemporaneous X-ray/optical flux ratio of 1100 and X-ray/near-infra-red flux ratio of 1000.…
With two consecutive outbursts recorded in four months (October 2008 and January 2009), and a possible third outburst in 2007, 1E 1547.0-5408 is one of the most active transient anomalous X-ray pulsars known so far. Thanks to extensive X-ray observations, obtained both in the quiescent and active states, 1E 1547.0-5408 represents a very promising laboratory to get insights into the outburst properties and magnetar emission mechanisms. We performed a detailed timing and spectral analysis of four Chandra, three INTEGRAL, and one XMM observations collected over a two week interval after the outbu…
Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and Soft-Gamma Repeaters groups are magnetar candidates featuring low characteristic ages ($τ= {P\over{2 {\dot P}}}$). At least some of them they should still be associated with the remnants of the explosive events in which they were born, giving clues to the type of events leading to their birth and the physics behind the apparent high value of the magnetar magnetic fields. To explain the high values of $B$, a self-consistent picture of field growth also suggests that energy injection into the SNR is large and unavoidable, in contrast with the evolution of {\it convent…
Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are enigmatic pulsar-like objects. The energy budget is the fundamental problem in their studies. In the magnetar model, they are supposed to be powered by the extremely strong magnetic fields (>~ 10^14 G) of neutron stars. Observations for and against the magnetar model are both summarized. Considering the difficulties encountered by the magnetar model to comfortably understand more and more observations, one may doubt that AXPs and SGRs are really magnetars. If they are not magnetar candidates (including magnetar-based models…
XRT 201423 is an X-ray transient with a nearly flat plateau lasting 4.1 ks followed by a steep decay. This feature indicates that it might come from a magnetar formed through a binary neutron star merger, similar to CDF-S XT2 and as predicted as a type of electromagnetic counterpart of binary neutron star mergers. We test the compliance of the data with this model and use the observed duration and flux of the X-ray signal as well as upper limits of optical emission to pose constraints on the parameters of the underlying putative magnetar. Both the free-zone and trapped-zone geometric configura…
Magnetars form a special population of neutron stars with strong magnetic fields and long spin periods. About 30 magnetars and magnetar candidates known currently are probably isolated. But the possibility that magnetars are in binaries hasn't been excluded. In this work, we perform spin evolution of neutron stars with different magnetic fields in wind-fed high-mass X-ray binaries and compare the spin period distribution with observations, aiming to find magnetars in binaries. Our simulation shows that some of the neutron stars, which have long spin periods or in wide-separation systems, need …
It is now widely accepted that soft gamma repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars are the observational manifestations of magnetars, i.e. sources powered by their own magnetic energy. This view was supported by the fact that these `magnetar candidates' exhibited, without exception, a surface dipole magnetic field (as inferred from the spin-down rate) in excess of the electron critical field (~4.4E+13 G). The recent discovery of fully-qualified magnetars, SGR 0418+5729 and Swift J1822.3-1606, with dipole magnetic field well in the range of ordinary radio pulsars posed a challenge to the standard …
Magnetars are proposed to be peculiar neutron stars powered by their super strong magnetic field. Observationally, anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-ray repeaters are believed to be magnetar candidates. While more and more multiwave observations of magnetars are available, unfortunately, we see accumulating failed predictions of the traditional magnetar model. These challenges urge rethinking of magnetar. Wind braking of magnetars is one of the alternative modelings. The release of magnetic energy may generate a particle outflow (i.e., particle wind), that results in both an anomalous X-r…
The Deep Space Network (DSN) is a worldwide array of radio telescopes that supports NASA's interplanetary spacecraft missions. When the DSN antennas are not communicating with spacecraft, they provide a valuable resource for performing observations of radio magnetars, searches for new pulsars at the Galactic Center, and additional pulsar-related studies. We describe the DSN's capabilities for carrying out these types of observations. We also present results from observations of three radio magnetars, PSR J1745-2900, PSR J1622-4950, and XTE J1810-197, and the transitional magnetar candidate, PS…
The Persistent Radio Sources and Multi-wavelength Counterparts of Fast Radio Bursts in Massive Binary Systems
School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University（南京大学天文与空间科学学院）；Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education（教育部现代天文与天体物理重点实验室（南京大学））；Department of Astronomy, School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学物理学院天文学系）
Neutrino-dominated accretion flow (NDAF) around a rotating stellar-mass black hole (BH) is one of the plausible candidates for the central engines of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Because the time-variant and anisotropic emission of neutrinos from NDAFs leads to GRB variability, NDAFs can be regarded as the sources of the strong gravitational waves (GWs). We calculate the dependences of the GW strains on both the BH spin and the accretion rate. We demonstrate that for typical GRBs with either single pulse or multiple pulses, the GWs from NDAFs might be detected at a distance of $\sim 100$ kpc/$\sim…
On 2016 June 22, 2E 1613.5-5053, the puzzling central compact object in supernova remnant RCW 103, emitted a magnetar-like burst. Using Director's Discretionary Time, we observed 2E 1613.5-5053 with the Hubble Space Telescope (WFC3/IR) and we report here on the detection of a previously unseen infrared counterpart. In observations taken on 2016 July 4 and August 11, we detect a new source ($m_\mathrm{F110W} = 26.3$ AB mag and $m_\mathrm{F160W} = 24.2$ AB mag) at the Chandra position of 2E 1613.5-5053 which was not detected in HST/NICMOS images from 2002 August 15 and October 8 to a depth of 24…
Magnetars and many of the magnetar-related objects are summarized together and discussed. It is shown that there is an abuse of language in the use of "magnetar". Anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-ray repeaters are well-known magnetar candidates. The current so called anti-magnetar (for central compact objects), accreting magnetar (for superslow X-ray pulsars in high mass X-ray binaries), and millisecond magnetar (for the central engine of some gamma-ray bursts), they may not be real magnetars in present understandings. Their observational behaviors are not caused by the magnetic energy. …
Supernova remnants (SNRs), star formation regions (SFRs), and pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) are prime candidates for Galactic PeVatrons. The nonthermal high-energy (HE, $\varepsilon>100 \textrm{ MeV}$) and very high-energy (VHE, $\varepsilon>100 \textrm{ GeV}$) $γ$-ray emission from these sources should be a promising manifestation of acceleration processes. We investigate the possibility to explain the HE and VHE $γ$-ray emission from the sky region of the magnetar SGR 1900+14 as a signature of cosmic rays accelerated in above mentioned sources. To this end, we simulate the $γ$-ray emission from…
4U0114$+$65 is one of the slowest known X-ray pulsars. We present an analysis of a pointed observation by the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope. The energy-resolved light curve, the time-resolved X-ray spectra provided by the EPIC cameras on board and the first high-resolution spectrum of this source, provided by the Reflection Grating Spectrometer, were analysed. An X-ray pulse of $9350\pm 160$ s was measured, confirming the secular spin up of this source. We also fit the pulse-phase-resolved spectra with Comptonisation models. These models imply a very small ($r\sim 3$ km) and hot ($kT\sim 2-3$ keV…
The X-ray plateau followed by a steep decay ("internal plateau") has been observed in both long and short gamma-ray burst (GRBs), implying a millisecond magnetar operating in some GRBs. The sharp decay at the end of plateau, marking the abrupt cessation of the magnetar central engine, has been considered as the collapse of a supra-massive magnetar to a black hole (BH) when it spins down. If "internal plateau" is indeed the evidence of a magnetar central engine, a natural expectation is a signature from the new-born BH in some candidates. In this work, we find that GRB 070110 is a particular ca…
Magnetars are neutron stars in which a strong magnetic field is the main energy source. About two dozens of magnetars, plus several candidates, are currently known in our Galaxy and in the Magellanic Clouds. They appear as highly variable X-ray sources and, in some cases, also as radio and/or optical pulsars. Their spin periods (2-12 s) and spin-down rates (~10^{-13}-10^{-10} s/s) indicate external dipole fields of ~10^{13-15} G, and there is evidence that even stronger magnetic fields are present inside the star and in non-dipolar magnetospheric components. Here we review the observed propert…
We study the radio spectra of two magnetars PSR J1550-5418 and J1622-4950. We argue that they are good candidates for the pulsars with gigahertz-peaked spectra as their observed flux density decreases at frequencies below 7 GHz. We suggest this behavior is due to the influence of pulsars' environments on the radio waves. Both of the magnetars are associated with supernova remnants, thus are surrounded by a hot, ionized gas, which can be responsible for the free-free absorption of radio-waves. We conclude that the GPS feature of both magnetars and typical pulsars are formed by similar processes…
Newly born magnetars are good candidate sources of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. These objects can in principle easily accelerate particles to the highest energies required to satisfy the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray scenario (E~10^{20-21} eV), thanks to their important rotational and magnetic energy reservoirs. Their acceleration mechanism, based on unipolar induction, predicts however a hard particle injection that does not fit the observed ultrahigh energy cosmic ray spectrum. Here we show that an adequate distribution of initial voltages among magnetar winds can be found to soften the spect…
A rapidly rotating neutron star with strong magnetic fields, called magnetar, is a possible candidate for the central engine of long gamma-ray bursts and hypernovae (HNe). We solve the evolution of a shock wave driven by the wind from magnetar and evaluate the temperature evolution, by which we estimate the amount of $^{56}$Ni that produces a bright emission of HNe. We obtain a constraint on the magnetar parameters, namely the poloidal magnetic field strength ($B_p$) and initial angular velocity ($Ω_i$), for synthesizing enough $^{56}$Ni mass to explain HNe ($M_{^{56}\mathrm{Ni}}\gtrsim 0.2M_\…
Very recently, an extremely bright fast radio burst (FRB) 200428 with two sub-millisecond pulses was discovered to come from the direction of the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154, and an X-ray burst (XRB) counterpart was detected simultaneously. These observations favor magnetar-based interior-driven models. In this Letter, we propose a different model for FRB 200428 associated with an XRB from SGR 1935+2154, in which a magnetar with high proper velocity encounters an asteroid of mass $\sim10^{20}\,$g. This infalling asteroid in the stellar gravitational field is first possibly disrupted tidall…
From Rare Events to a Population: Discovering Overlooked Extragalactic Magnetar Giant Flare Candidates in Archival Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor Data
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局马歇尔太空飞行中心）；Louisiana State University（路易斯安那州立大学）；Universities Space Research Association（大学空间研究协会）；University of Alabama in Huntsville（阿拉巴马大学亨茨维尔分校）；Ioffe Institute（约费研究所）
Magnetars are young, highly magnetized neutron stars that produce extremely rare giant flares of gamma-rays, the most luminous astrophysical phenomena in our Galaxy. The detection of these flares from outside the Local Group of galaxies has been predicted, with just two candidates so far. Here we report on the extremely bright gamma-ray flare GRB 200415A of April 15, 2020, which we localize, using the Interplanetary Network, to a tiny (20 sq. arcmin) area on the celestial sphere, that overlaps the central region of the Sculptor galaxy at 3.5 Mpc from the Milky Way. From the Konus-Wind detectio…
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are short pulses observed in radio frequencies usually originating from cosmological distances. The discovery of FRB 200428 and its X-ray counterpart from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 suggests that at least some FRBs can be generated by magnetars. However, the majority of X-ray bursts from magnetars are not associated with radio emission. The fact that only in rare cases can an FRB be generated raises the question regarding the special triggering mechanism of FRBs. Here we report a giant glitch from SGR J1935+2154, which occurred approximately $3.1\pm2.5$\,day …
The recent discovery of a Mega-Jansky radio burst occurring simultaneously with short X-ray bursts from the Galactic magnetar (strongly magnetized neutron star (NS)) SGR 1935+2154 is a smoking gun for the hypothesis that some cosmological fast radio bursts (FRBs) arise from magnetar bursts. We argue that the X-ray bursts with high temperature $T \gtrsim 30$ keV entail an electron--positron ($e^{\pm}$) outflow from a trapped--expanding fireball, polluting the NS magnetosphere before the FRB emission. The $e^{\pm}$ outflow is opaque to FRB photons, and is strongly Compton-dragged by the X-ray bu…
The discovery of a luminous radio burst, FRB 200428, with properties similar to those of fast radio bursts (FRB), in coincidence with an X-ray flare from the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154, supports magnetar models for cosmological FRBs. The burst's X-ray to radio fluence ratio, as well as the X-ray spectral shape and peak energy, are consistent with FRB 200428 being the result of an ultra-relativistic shock (powered, e.g., by an ejected plasmoid) propagating into a magnetized baryon-rich external medium; the shock simultaneously generates X-ray/gamma-rays via thermal synchrotron emission fro…
Rapidly spinning, strongly magnetized proto-neutron stars ("millisecond proto-magnetars") are candidate central engines of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRB), superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), and binary neutron star mergers. Magnetar birth may be accompanied by the fall-back of stellar debris, lasting for seconds or longer following the explosion. Accretion alters the magnetar evolution by (1) providing an additional source of rotational energy (or a potential sink, if the propeller mechanism operates); (2) enhancing the spin-down luminosity above the dipole rate by compressing the magnetos…
We present deep Hubble Space Telescope observations of a new magnetar source, the soft gamma-repeater SGR 1935+2154, discovered by Swift. We obtained three epochs of observations: while the source was active in March 2015, during a quiescent period in August 2015, and during a further active phase in May 2016. Close to the center of the X-ray error region identified by Chandra we find a faint (F140W(AB)=25.3) source, which fades by a factor of ~2 over the course of 5 months between the first two epochs of observations, before rebrightening during the second active period. If this source is ind…
We present a catalog of the 26 currently known magnetars and magnetar candidates. We tabulate astrometric and timing data for all catalog sources, as well as their observed radiative properties, particularly the spectral parameters of the quiescent X-ray emission. We show histograms of the spatial and timing properties of the magnetars, comparing them with the known pulsar population, and we investigate and plot possible correlations between their timing, X-ray, and multiwavelength properties. We find the scale height of magnetars to be in the range 20-31 pc, assuming they are exponentially di…
Ultra-long gamma-ray bursts (ulGRBs) are a new population of GRBs with extreme durations of $\sim 10^{4}$ s. Leading candidates for their origin are blue supergiant collapsars, magnetars, and white dwarf tidal disruption events (WD-TDEs) caused by massive black holes (BHs). Recent observations of supernova-like (SN-like) bumps associated with ulGRBs challenged both the WD-TDE and the blue supergiant models because of the detection of SNe and the absence of hydrogen lines, respectively. We propose that WD-TDEs can accommodate the observed SN-like bumps if the fallback WD matter releases energy …
Despite about a decade of observations, very little is known about the optical and infrared (IR) emission properties of the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs) and of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs), the magnetar candidates, and about the physical processes which drive their emission at these wavelengths. This is mainly due to the limited number of identifications achieved so far, five in total, and to the sparse spectral coverage obtained from multi-band optical/IR photometry. Aim of this work is to search for a likely candidate counterpart to the recently discovered transient radio AXP 1E 154…
