Gamma-Ray Observations of a Giant Flare From the Magnetar Sgr 1806-20
Gamma-Ray Observations of a Giant Flare From the Magnetar Sgr 1806-20
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DOI：
10.1038/nature03525
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发表时间：
2005-03
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
D. Palmer;S. Barthelmy;N. Gehrels;R. Kippen;T. Cayton;C. Kouveliotou;D. Eichler;R. Wijers;P. Woods;J. Granot;Y. Lyubarsky;E. Ramirez-Ruiz;L. Barbier;M. Chester;J. Cummings;E. Fenimore;M. Finger;B. Gaensler;D. Hullinger;H. Krimm;C. Markwardt;J. Nousek;A. Parsons;S. Patel;T. Sakamoto;G. Sato;M. Suzuki;J. Tueller
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
D. Palmer;S. Barthelmy;N. Gehrels;R. Kippen;T. Cayton;C. Kouveliotou;D. Eichler;R. Wijers;P. Woods;J. Granot;Y. Lyubarsky;E. Ramirez-Ruiz;L. Barbier;M. Chester;J. Cummings;E. Fenimore;M. Finger;B. Gaensler;D. Hullinger;H. Krimm;C. Markwardt;J. Nousek;A. Parsons;S. Patel;T. Sakamoto;G. Sato;M. Suzuki;J. Tueller
两类旋转中子星--软γ射线中继星（SGR）和反常X射线脉冲星--都是磁星，它们的X射线发射是由非常强的磁场（B 1015 G）提供动力的。SGR偶尔会变得“活跃”，产生许多短X射线爆发。在极少数情况下，SGR会发出一个巨大的耀斑，其总能量大约是典型爆发的1000倍。在这里，我们报告SGR 1806-20在2004年12月27日发出了一个巨大的耀斑。总（各向同性）耀斑能量为2 × 1046 erg，比之前观测到的另外两个巨型耀斑高出约100倍。能量释放可能发生在中子星星磁场的灾难性重新配置过程中。如果事件发生在更远的距离，但在40兆秒差距内，它将类似于一个短而硬的γ射线爆发，这表明来自河外SGR的耀斑可能形成这种爆发的一个子类。
Two classes of rotating neutron stars—soft γ-ray repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars—are magnetars, whose X-ray emission is powered by a very strong magnetic field (B≈ 1015G). SGRs occasionally become ‘active’, producing many short X-ray bursts. Extremely rarely, an SGR emits a giant flare with a total energy about a thousand times higher than in a typical burst,,. Here we report that SGR 1806–20 emitted a giant flare on 27 December 2004. The total (isotropic) flare energy is 2 × 1046erg, which is about a hundred times higher than the other two previously observed giant flares. The energy release probably occurred during a catastrophic reconfiguration of the neutron star's magnetic field. If the event had occurred at a larger distance, but within 40 megaparsecs, it would have resembled a short, hard γ-ray burst, suggesting that flares from extragalactic SGRs may form a subclass of such bursts.