MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF THE RADIO MAGNETAR PSR J1622-4950 AND DISCOVERY OF ITS POSSIBLY ASSOCIATED SUPERNOVA REMNANT

Journal Article · Sun May 20 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/751/1/53· OSTI ID:22037227

Anderson, Gemma E; Gaensler, B M ^[1]; Slane, Patrick O; Drake, Jeremy J ^[2]; Rea, Nanda ^[3]; Kaplan, David L ^[4]; Posselt, Bettina ^[5]; Levin, Lina; Bailes, Matthew; Ramesh Bhat, N D ^[6]; Johnston, Simon; Burke-Spolaor, Sarah ^[7]; Murray, Stephen S ^[8]; Brogan, Crystal L ^[9]; Bates, Samuel ^[10]; Benjamin, Robert A ^[11]; Burgay, Marta; D'Amico, Nichi; Esposito, Paolo ^[12]; Chakrabarty, Deepto ^[13] ; others, and

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1. Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics A29, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)
2. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
3. Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (CSIC-IEEC), Campus UAB, Facultat de Ciencies, Torre C5-parell, 2a planta, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona (Spain)
4. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (United States)
5. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, PA 16802 (United States)
6. Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC 3122 (Australia)
7. Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)
8. Department of Physics and Astronomy, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
9. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
10. Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom)
11. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, WI 53190 (United States)
12. INAF/Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, 09012 Capoterra (Italy)
13. MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

We present multi-wavelength observations of the radio magnetar PSR J1622-4950 and its environment. Observations of PSR J1622-4950 with Chandra (in 2007 and 2009) and XMM (in 2011) show that the X-ray flux of PSR J1622-4950 has decreased by a factor of {approx}50 over 3.7 years, decaying exponentially with a characteristic time of {tau} = 360 {+-} 11 days. This behavior identifies PSR J1622-4950 as a possible addition to the small class of transient magnetars. The X-ray decay likely indicates that PSR J1622-4950 is recovering from an X-ray outburst that occurred earlier in 2007, before the 2007 Chandra observations. Observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array show strong radio variability, including a possible radio flaring event at least one and a half years after the 2007 X-ray outburst that may be a direct result of this X-ray event. Radio observations with the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope reveal that PSR J1622-4950 is 8' southeast of a diffuse radio arc, G333.9+0.0, which appears non-thermal in nature and which could possibly be a previously undiscovered supernova remnant (SNR). If G333.9+0.0 is an SNR then the estimates of its size and age, combined with the close proximity and reasonable implied velocity of PSR J1622-4950, suggest that these two objects could be physically associated.

• OSTI ID: 22037227
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 751, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES
GAMMA ASTRONOMY
MAGNETIC STARS
NEUTRON STARS
PULSARS
RADIOASTRONOMY
STELLAR FLARES
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
TELESCOPES
TRANSIENTS
WAVELENGTHS
X RADIATION