A giant periodic flare from the soft γ-ray repeater SGR1900+14
A giant periodic flare from the soft γ-ray repeater SGR1900+14
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DOI：
10.1038/16199
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发表时间：
1998-11
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
K. Hurley;T. Cline;E. Mazets;S. Barthelmy;P. Butterworth;F. Marshall;D. Palmer;R. Aptekar'
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
K. Hurley;T. Cline;E. Mazets;S. Barthelmy;P. Butterworth;F. Marshall;D. Palmer;R. Aptekar'
软γ射线中继器是高能光子的瞬时来源；它们在活动期间发出零星且短(约0.1 S)的“软”γ射线爆发，这种爆发通常被长时间的静止所打破。这些天体与年轻超新星残骸中的中子星有关。1979年3月5日的事件是迄今为止最强烈的一次爆发，也是唯一一次显示信号具有明显周期性的事件。在这里，我们报告了在1998年8月27日从另一个软γ-射线中继器探测到的更强烈的爆发。这次爆发的特点是γ射线最强，然后是一条长达300 的S尾巴，光谱较软，周期明显，周期为5.16 S。爆发可能是由中子星外壳的大规模破裂引起的，随后高能粒子流出，随着恒星的周期旋转。对比1998年8月27日和1979年3月5日的事件，支持磁能在这类事件的发生中发挥重要作用的观点。尽管这些巨大的耀斑很罕见，但它们并不是独一无二的事件，可能会在中子星的活动周期中的任何时候发生。
Soft γ-ray repeaters are transient sources of high-energy photons; they emit sporadic and short (about 0.1 s) bursts of ‘soft’ γ-rays during periods of activity, which are often broken by long stretches of quiescence. These objects are associated with neutron stars in young supernova remnants. The event of 5 March 1979 was the most intense burst to date, and the only one that showed a clear periodicity in the signal,. Here we report the detection, on 27 August 1998, of an even more intense burst from a different soft γ-ray repeater. This event was characterized by ‘hard’ γ-rays at its peak, followed by a tail 300 s long with a soft spectrum and a clear periodicity of 5.16 s. The burst was probably initiated by a massive disruption of the crust of the neutron star, followed by an outflow of energetic particles rotating with the period of the star. A comparison of the events of 27 August 1998 and 5 March 1979 supports the idea that magnetic energy plays an important role in the genesis of such events. Although these giant flares are rare, they are not unique events and may occur at any time in a neutron star's activity cycle.