THE PROPER MOTION OF PSR J1550-5418 MEASURED WITH VLBI: A SECOND MAGNETAR VELOCITY MEASUREMENT

Journal Article · Tue Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/748/1/L1· OSTI ID:22047974

Deller, A T ^[1]; Camilo, F; Halpern, J P ^[2]; Reynolds, J E ^[3]

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1. ASTRON, P.O. Box 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
2. Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
3. Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)

The formation mechanism of neutron stars with extremely large magnetic field strengths (magnetars) remains unclear. Some formation scenarios predict that magnetars should be born with extremely high space velocities, >1000 km s{sup -1}. Using the Long Baseline Array in Australia, we have measured the proper motion of the intermittently radio-bright magnetar PSR J1550-5418 (1E 1547.0-5408): {mu} = 9.2 {+-} 0.6 mas yr{sup -1}. For a likely distance of 6 {+-} 2 kpc, the implied transverse velocity is 280{sup +130}{sub -120} km s{sup -1} after correcting for Galactic rotation. Along with the Almost-Equal-To 200 km s{sup -1} transverse velocity measured for the magnetar XTE J1810-197, this result suggests that formation pathways producing large magnetic fields do not require very large birth kicks.

• OSTI ID: 22047974
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 748, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
DISTANCE
GALAXIES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC STARS
NEUTRON STARS
PARTURITION
PROPER MOTION
PULSARS
ROTATION
SPACE
VELOCITY