A NEW LOW MAGNETIC FIELD MAGNETAR: THE 2011 OUTBURST OF SWIFT J1822.3-1606
- Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (CSIC-IEEC), Campus UAB, Facultat de Ciencies, Torre C5-parell, E-08193 Barcelona (Spain)
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via Frascati 22, 00040, Monteporzio Catone (Italy)
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, localita Poggio dei Pini, strada 54, I-09012 Capoterra (Italy)
- Departament de Fisica Aplicada, Universitat d'Alacant, Ap. Correus 99, 03080 Alacant (Spain)
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT (United Kingdom)
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via E. Bianchi 46, I-23807 Merate (Italy)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), SLAC/Stanford University, P.O. Box 20450, MS 29, Stanford, CA 94309 (United States)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanc Latin-Small-Letter-Dotless-I University, Orhanl Latin-Small-Letter-Dotless-I -Tuzla, 34956 Istanbul (Turkey)
- AIM (CEA/DSM-CNRS-Universite Paris Diderot), Irfu/Service d'Astrophysique, Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
- NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812 (United States)
- High Energy Astrophysics Laboratory, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan)
- INAF-IASF Milano, via E. Bassini 15, I-20133 Milano (Italy)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)
We report on the long-term X-ray monitoring with Swift, RXTE, Suzaku, Chandra, and XMM-Newton of the outburst of the newly discovered magnetar Swift J1822.3-1606 (SGR 1822-1606), from the first observations soon after the detection of the short X-ray bursts which led to its discovery, through the first stages of its outburst decay (covering the time span from 2011 July until the end of 2012 April). We also report on archival ROSAT observations which detected the source during its likely quiescent state, and on upper limits on Swift J1822.3-1606's radio-pulsed and optical emission during outburst, with the Green Bank Telescope and the Gran Telescopio Canarias, respectively. Our X-ray timing analysis finds the source rotating with a period of P = 8.43772016(2) s and a period derivative P-dot =8.3(2) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -14} s s{sup -1}, which implies an inferred dipolar surface magnetic field of B {approx_equal} 2.7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 13} G at the equator. This measurement makes Swift J1822.3-1606 the second lowest magnetic field magnetar (after SGR 0418+5729). Following the flux and spectral evolution from the beginning of the outburst, we find that the flux decreased by about an order of magnitude, with a subtle softening of the spectrum, both typical of the outburst decay of magnetars. By modeling the secular thermal evolution of Swift J1822.3-1606, we find that the observed timing properties of the source, as well as its quiescent X-ray luminosity, can be reproduced if it was born with a poloidal and crustal toroidal fields of B{sub p} {approx} 1.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} G and B{sub tor} {approx} 7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} G, respectively, and if its current age is {approx}550 kyr.
- OSTI ID:
- 22039319
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 754, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
3XMM J185246.6+003317: ANOTHER LOW MAGNETIC FIELD MAGNETAR
THE SPIN-DOWN OF SWIFT J1822.3-1606: A NEW GALACTIC MAGNETAR