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Follow the unique journey of RXTE and Magnetars through decades of groundbreaking research on magnetar phenomena and celestial pulsars, unveiling cosmic mysteries and pushing frontiers in astrophysics. This narrative captures the essence of discovery, collaboration, and innovation in space exploration. Discover the evolution of scientific knowledge and the challenges of unraveling the secrets of magnetars. Join the Magnetar Team led by C. Kouveliotou as they explore the depths of the universe and share their memories with poetic grace.
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RXTE and Magnetars: A unique story of success C. Kouveliotou (NASA/MSFC) on behalf of the BATSE & GBM Magnetar teams
Memories – with poetic license … • RXTE launched on 1995 December 30th – on 1995 September 30th BATSE triggered on the Bursting Pulsar. I called Jean at the Cape and asked for a pre-launch ToO…apparently the first for RXTE and most likely the first for any mission ever… • SGR J1806-20 became active on 1996 October 30th. We triggered the first SGR ToO with RXTE. • SGR Swift J1834.9-0846 triggered Swift on 2011 August 7. We triggered the last SGR ToO with RXTE.
What did we know about SGRs before RXTE • Soft Burst emitters • Repeating sources (not catastrophic phenomena) • Two on the Galactic plane and one in LMC • Maybe a different flavor of GRBs associated with a neutron star, possibly highly magnetized (1979 March 5th event 8s pulsations; Paczynski 1995)
What we know about SGRs after RXTE • 24 sources to date – six in 2008-2011 alone – • All but two (LMC, SMC) are MW sources • Discovered in X/-rays/radio; radio, optical and IR • observations - Short, soft repeated bursts • P = [2-11] s, P ~[10-11-10-13]s/s • τspindown(P/2 P)= 2-220 kyrs • B~[1-10]x1014 G (mean surface dipole field: 3.2x1019√PP) ; SGR J0418+5729: B<7.5 x 1012 G, SGR J1822.3-1606: B=2.8x1013 G • Luminosities range from L~1032–36 erg/s • No evidence for binarity • SNe associations
2008-2012: Good years for Magnetars! Fermi IPN Swift RXTE
CRADLE: 10°>l >30° NEW Old source reactivation SGRs AXPs Kouveliotou et al. 2012
1. VERY FAST RESPONSE • SGR J0501+4516 (22/8/2008) • RXTE ToO triggered ~4 hours after the first Swift trigger for 600 s • P = 5.769s ± 0.004 s was reported ~ 9 hoursafter the first Swift trigger! • SGR J0418+5729(5/6/2009) – • RXTE ToO triggered ~ 4 days after the GBM triggers • P = 9.0783(1) sec • SGR J1833-0832 (19/03/2010) • RXTE ToO triggered ~ 3.25 hours after the GBM triggers • P = 7.5654(1) sec was reported one day later • SGR J1822.3-1606 (14/07/2011) • RXTE ToO triggered ~ 2 days after the GBM triggers • P = 8.43 sec • SGR J1834.9-0846 (7/08/2011) • RXTE ToO triggered ~ 1.5 days after the GBM triggers • P = 2.4823 sec
2. LONG TERM MONITORING 2a. TIMING PROPERTIES SGR 1806-20 AXP 1E 1048.1-5937 Kaspi et al. 2001 Woods et al 2001
Discovery of higher frequency oscillations during Giant Flares (150, 625, 1840 Hz) Giant Flare of SGR 1806-20 Strohmayer & Watts 2006
2b. FLUX SGR 1900+14 Woods et al. 2001
SGR 1900+14 2c. PULSE PROPERTIES 2000 1996 May 98 Aug 98 Sep-Oct 98 1999 Gogus et al. 2002
3 .Does B-field evolve? SGR J1822-1606 SGR J0418+5729 Rea et al. 2010,2012
Kouveliotou 1999 What is the evolutionary link between different types of sources? Rotation powered PSRs -> SGRs -> AXPs -> DINS (Kouveliotou 1999, Perna & Pons 2011, Turollaetal 2011, Espinoza etal 2011, +??)
Magnetars in the next five years • Observations • Population studies of magnetars • Understand the links between PSRs – Magnetars – DINS • Systematic searches for seismic vibrations in magnetar bursts-independent B-field measurements • Giant flare detection becomes a strong possibility (for a rate of 1/source/10yrs, we expect one in the next three years – last was in 2004) • Confirm pulsed emission breaks >100 keV will constrain Emax of particles and localization of emission • Overarching theoretical issues • Localize the burst energy injection possibly on or near the NS surface to determine the injection mechanism • Detection of gravitational waves from magnetar Giant Flares • Determination of the magnetic Eddington limit • Synergy with new observatories • NuSTAR, LIGO, LOFAR, AstroSAT, SVOM, GEMS • Serendipitous Discoveries • Always welcome!
The Magnetar Team • C. Kouveliotou (NASA/MSFC, USA),, M. Finger (USRA, USA), N. Bhat (UAH, USA), A. von Kienlin, D. Gruber (MPE, Germany), P. Woods (Corbid Tec, USA) • E. Gogus, Y. Kaneko, L. Lin(Sabanci University, Turkey) • A. Watts, D. Huppenkothen, M. van der Klis, R. Wijers, L. Kaper, A. van der Horst (U. of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) • M. Baring (Rice University, USA) • J. Granot (University of Hertfordshire, UK) • S. Wachter (Caltech/IPAC, USA) • E. Ramirez-Ruiz (UCSC, USA) • V. Kaspi (McGill University, Canada) • J. McEnery, N. Gehrels, A. Harding, S. Guiriec (NASA/GSFC, USA)
THANK YOU JEAN For a wonderful 15 years And may your legacy guide all future PIs