Exciting the magnetosphere of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216 in Westerlund 1

M. P. Muno; B. M. Gaensler; J. S. Clark; R. de Grijs; D. Pooley; I. R. Stevens; S. F.  Portegies Zwart

doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00317.x

Exciting the magnetosphere of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216 in Westerlund 1

M. P. Muno, B. M. Gaensler^*, J. S. Clark, R. de Grijs, D. Pooley, I. R. Stevens, S. F. Portegies Zwart

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

61 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We describe XMM-Newton observations taken 4.3 d prior to and 1.5 d subsequent to two remarkable events that were detected with Swift on 2006 September 21 from the candidate magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216: (i) a 20-ms burst with an energy of 10³⁷ erg (15-150 keV), and (ii) a rapid spin-down (glitch) with ΔP/P ~ -10-⁴. We find that the luminosity of the pulsar increased by a factor of 100 in the interval between observations, from 1 × 10³³ to 1 × 10³⁵ erg s^-1 (0.5-8.0 keV), and that its spectrum hardened. The pulsed count rate increased by a factor of 10 (0.5-8.0 keV), but the fractional rms amplitude of the pulses decreased from 65 to 11 per cent, and their profile changed from being single-peaked to exhibiting three distinct peaks. Similar changes have been observed from other magnetars in response to outbursts, such as that of 1E 2259+586 in 2002 June. We suggest that a plastic deformation of the neutron star crust induced a very slight twist in the external magnetic field, which in turn generated currents in the magnetosphere that were the direct cause of the X-ray outburst.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	L44-L48
Number of pages	5
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Volume	378
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00317.x
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2007
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

stars: magnetic fields
stars: neutron
pulsars: individual: CXOU J164710.2– 455216
X-rays: bursts

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10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00317.x

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title = "Exciting the magnetosphere of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216 in Westerlund 1",

abstract = "We describe XMM-Newton observations taken 4.3 d prior to and 1.5 d subsequent to two remarkable events that were detected with Swift on 2006 September 21 from the candidate magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216: (i) a 20-ms burst with an energy of 1037 erg (15-150 keV), and (ii) a rapid spin-down (glitch) with ΔP/P ~ -10-4. We find that the luminosity of the pulsar increased by a factor of 100 in the interval between observations, from 1 × 1033 to 1 × 1035 erg s-1 (0.5-8.0 keV), and that its spectrum hardened. The pulsed count rate increased by a factor of 10 (0.5-8.0 keV), but the fractional rms amplitude of the pulses decreased from 65 to 11 per cent, and their profile changed from being single-peaked to exhibiting three distinct peaks. Similar changes have been observed from other magnetars in response to outbursts, such as that of 1E 2259+586 in 2002 June. We suggest that a plastic deformation of the neutron star crust induced a very slight twist in the external magnetic field, which in turn generated currents in the magnetosphere that were the direct cause of the X-ray outburst.",

keywords = "stars: magnetic fields, stars: neutron, pulsars: individual: CXOU J164710.2– 455216, X-rays: bursts",

author = "Muno, {M. P.} and Gaensler, {B. M.} and Clark, {J. S.} and {de Grijs}, R. and D. Pooley and Stevens, {I. R.} and {Portegies Zwart}, {S. F.}",

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doi = "10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00317.x",

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T1 - Exciting the magnetosphere of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216 in Westerlund 1

AU - Muno, M. P.

AU - Gaensler, B. M.

AU - Clark, J. S.

AU - de Grijs, R.

AU - Pooley, D.

AU - Stevens, I. R.

AU - Portegies Zwart, S. F.

PY - 2007/6/1

Y1 - 2007/6/1

N2 - We describe XMM-Newton observations taken 4.3 d prior to and 1.5 d subsequent to two remarkable events that were detected with Swift on 2006 September 21 from the candidate magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216: (i) a 20-ms burst with an energy of 1037 erg (15-150 keV), and (ii) a rapid spin-down (glitch) with ΔP/P ~ -10-4. We find that the luminosity of the pulsar increased by a factor of 100 in the interval between observations, from 1 × 1033 to 1 × 1035 erg s-1 (0.5-8.0 keV), and that its spectrum hardened. The pulsed count rate increased by a factor of 10 (0.5-8.0 keV), but the fractional rms amplitude of the pulses decreased from 65 to 11 per cent, and their profile changed from being single-peaked to exhibiting three distinct peaks. Similar changes have been observed from other magnetars in response to outbursts, such as that of 1E 2259+586 in 2002 June. We suggest that a plastic deformation of the neutron star crust induced a very slight twist in the external magnetic field, which in turn generated currents in the magnetosphere that were the direct cause of the X-ray outburst.

AB - We describe XMM-Newton observations taken 4.3 d prior to and 1.5 d subsequent to two remarkable events that were detected with Swift on 2006 September 21 from the candidate magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216: (i) a 20-ms burst with an energy of 1037 erg (15-150 keV), and (ii) a rapid spin-down (glitch) with ΔP/P ~ -10-4. We find that the luminosity of the pulsar increased by a factor of 100 in the interval between observations, from 1 × 1033 to 1 × 1035 erg s-1 (0.5-8.0 keV), and that its spectrum hardened. The pulsed count rate increased by a factor of 10 (0.5-8.0 keV), but the fractional rms amplitude of the pulses decreased from 65 to 11 per cent, and their profile changed from being single-peaked to exhibiting three distinct peaks. Similar changes have been observed from other magnetars in response to outbursts, such as that of 1E 2259+586 in 2002 June. We suggest that a plastic deformation of the neutron star crust induced a very slight twist in the external magnetic field, which in turn generated currents in the magnetosphere that were the direct cause of the X-ray outburst.

KW - stars: magnetic fields

KW - stars: neutron

KW - pulsars: individual: CXOU J164710.2– 455216

KW - X-rays: bursts

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U2 - 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00317.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00317.x

M3 - Letter

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SN - 1745-3933

VL - 378

SP - L44-L48

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

IS - 1

ER -

Exciting the magnetosphere of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216 in Westerlund 1

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Keywords

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