DISCOVERY OF THE TRANSIENT MAGNETAR 3XMM J185246.6+003317 NEAR SUPERNOVA REMNANT KESTEVEN 79 WITH XMM-NEWTON
- Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 (Canada)
- Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen (Netherlands)
- Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, 255 Simo-Ohkubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama 338-8570 (Japan)
- Key Laboratory for Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)
We report the serendipitous discovery with XMM-Newton that 3XMM J185246.6+003317 is an 11.56 s X-ray pulsar located 1' away from the southern boundary of supernova remnant Kes 79. The spin-down rate of 3XMM J185246.6+003317 is <1.1 × 10{sup –13} s s{sup –1}, which, together with the long period P = 11.5587126(4) s, indicates a dipolar surface magnetic field of <3.6 × 10{sup 13} G, a characteristic age of >1.7 Myr, and a spin-down luminosity of <2.8 × 10{sup 30} erg s{sup –1}. Its X-ray spectrum is best-fitted with a resonant Compton scattering model and also can be adequately described by a blackbody model. The observations covering a seven-month span from 2008 to 2009 show variations in the spectral properties of the source, with the luminosity decreasing from 2.7 × 10{sup 34} erg s{sup –1} to 4.6 × 10{sup 33} erg s{sup –1}, along with a decrease of the blackbody temperature from kT ≈ 0.8 keV to ≈0.6 keV. The X-ray luminosity of the source is higher than its spin-down luminosity, ruling out rotation as a power source. The combined timing and spectral properties, the non-detection of any optical or infrared counterpart, together with the lack of detection of the source in archival X-ray data prior to the 2008 XMM-Newton observation, point to 3XMM J185246.6+003317 being a newly discovered transient low-B magnetar undergoing an outburst decay during the XMM-Newton observations. The non-detection by Chandra in 2001 sets an upper limit of 4 × 10{sup 32} erg s{sup –1} to the quiescent luminosity of 3XMM J185246.6+003317. Its period is the longest among currently known transient magnetars. The foreground absorption toward 3XMM J185246.6+003317 is similar to that of Kes 79, suggesting a similar distance of ∼7.1 kpc.
- OSTI ID:
- 22364027
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 781, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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