Related papers: Magnetar outbursts: an observational review
Collapsing massive stars lead to a broad range of astrophysical transients, whose multi-wavelength emission is powered by a variety of processes including radioactive decay, activity of the central engine, and interaction of the outflows…
Quasi-periodic oscillations have been seen in the light curves following several magnetar giant flares. These oscillations are of great interest as they probably provide our first ever view of the normal modes of oscillation of neutron…
Bright outbursts from Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) are believed to be caused by instabilities in ultramagnetized neutron stars, powered by a decaying magnetic field. It was originally thought that these…
Magnetars are a subclass of neutron stars whose intense soft-gamma-ray bursts and quiescent X-ray emission are believed to be powered by the decay of a strong internal magnetic field. We reanalyze neutrino emission in such stars in the…
By applying the Efron-Petrosian method to the fluxes $S$ and distances $D$ of the magnetars listed in the Magnetar Outburst Online Catalogue, we show that the observational data are consistent with the dependence $S\propto D^{-3/2}$, which…
Neutron stars are a prime laboratory for testing physical processes under conditions of strong gravity, high density, and extreme magnetic fields. Among the zoo of neutron star phenomena, magnetars stand out for their bursting behaviour,…
I summarize the recent advances in our understanding of the Soft Gamma Repeaters: in particular their spin behavior, persistent emission and hyper-Eddington outbursts. The giant flares on 5 March 1979 and 27 August 1998 provide compelling…
Magnetars comprise two classes of rotating neutron stars (Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars), whose X-ray emission is powered by an ultrastrong magnetic field, B ~ 10^15 G. Occasionally SGRs enter into active episodes…
Magnetars are a special subset of the isolated neutron star family, with X-ray and radio emission mainly powered by the decay of their immense magnetic fields. Many attributes of magnetars remain poorly understood: spin-down glitches or the…
We analyzed broad-band X-ray and radio data of the magnetar SGR J1935+2154 taken in the aftermath of its 2014, 2015, and 2016 outbursts. The source soft X-ray spectrum <10 keV is well described with a BB+PL or 2BB model during all three…
Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) belong to a class of neutron stars believed to harbor the strongest magnetic fields in the universe, as indicated by their energetic bursts and their rapid spindowns. However, an unambiguous measurement of…
The 2011 outburst of Swift J1822.3--1606 was extraordinary; periodic modulations at the spin period of the underlying neutron star were clearly visible, remarkably similar to what is observed during the decaying tail of magnetar giant…
After two major outbursts in 2006 and 2011, on 2017 May 16 the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216, hosted within the massive star cluster Westerlund I, emitted a short (20 ms) burst, which marked the onset of a new active phase. We started a…
Short gamma-ray bursts that are followed by long-duration X-ray plateaus may be powered by the birth, and hydrodynamic evolution, of magnetars from compact binary coalescence events. If the rotation and magnetic axes of the system are not…
Magnetar bursts can be emitted by Alfv\'en waves growing in the outer magnetosphere to nonlinear amplitudes, $\delta B/B\sim 1$, and triggering magnetic reconnection. Similar magnetic flares should occur quasi-periodically in a magnetized…
The `radio sky' is relatively unexplored for transient signals, although the potential of radio-transient searches is high, as demonstrated recently by the discovery of a previously unknown type of source which varies on timescales of…
We present the evolution of the X-ray emission properties of the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 since February 2004 over a time period covering three outbursts. We analyzed new and archival observations taken with the Swift, NuSTAR, Chandra and…
We advance a "Solar flare" model of magnetar activity, whereas a slow evolution of the magnetic field in the upper crust, driven by electron MHD (EMHD) flows, twists the external magnetic flux tubes, producing persistent emission, bursts…
Magnetars are very rare astrophysical objects, with $\sim$31 known to date. They are best understood as highly magnetised neutron stars, but a greater number need to be found to constrain their role in stellar evolution pathways. We apply a…
It is suggested that magnetars eventually become unstable to a dynamic overturning instability that destroys most of their dipole moment in a single event. It is further suggested that such an instability would produce a supergiant version…