Anomalous X-ray pulsar

Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are an observational manifestation of magnetars—young, isolated, highly magnetized neutron stars. These energetic X-ray pulsars are characterized by slow rotation periods of ~2–12 seconds and large magnetic fields of ~1013–1015 gauss (1 to 100 gigateslas). As of 2017, there were 12 confirmed and 2 candidate AXPs known.[1] The identification of AXPs with magnetars was motivated by their similarity to soft gamma repeaters.

The AXP candidates and their estimated rotation period in seconds, as of 2003, were:
AXP 1E 2259+586 6.98  
AXP 1E 1048-59 6.45  
AXP 4U 0142+61 8.69  
AXP 1RXS 1708-40 11.0  
AXP 1E 1841-045 11.8  
AXP AXJ1844-0258 6.97  
AXP CXJ0110-7211 5.44  
The second, fourth, and last names have been abbreviated.

References

  1. ^ SGR/AXP Online Catalog (An online catalog of SGR/AXP properties maintained by the pulsar group at McGill University)

Sources

  • Van Paradijs, J.; Taam, R. E.; Van Den Heuvel, E. P. J. (1995). "On the nature of the 'anomalous' 6-s X-ray pulsars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 299: L41. Bibcode:1995A&A...299L..41V.
  • Duncan, Robert C.; Thompson, Christopher (1996). "Magnetars". AIP Conference Proceedings. Vol. 366. p. 111. doi:10.1063/1.50235.
  • Kouveliotou, Chryssa; Duncan, Robert C.; Thompson, Christopher (2003). "Magnetars". Scientific American. 288 (2): 34. Bibcode:2003SciAm.288b..34K. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0203-34. PMID 12561456.


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