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Deep NuSTAR and Swift monitoring observations of the magnetar 1E 1841-045

  • Hongjun An
  • , Robert F. Archibald
  • , Romain Hascoët
  • , Victoria M. Kaspi
  • , Andrei M. Beloborodov
  • , Anne M. Archibald
  • , Andy Beardmore
  • , Steven E. Boggs
  • , Finn Erland Christensen
  • , William W. Craig
    • McGill University
    • Columbia University
    • Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
    • University of Leicester
    • University of California at Berkeley

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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    Abstract

    We report on a 350 ks NuSTAR observation of the magnetar 1E 1841-045 taken in 2013 September. During the observation, NuSTAR detected six bursts of short duration, with T90 ≲ 1 s. An elevated level of emission tail is detected after the brightest burst, persisting for ~1 ks. The emission showed a power-law decay with a temporal index of 0.5 before returning to the persistent emission level. The long observation also provided detailed phase-resolved spectra of the persistent X-ray emission of the source. By comparing the persistent spectrum with that previously reported, we find that the source hard-band emission has been stable for over approximately 10 yr. The persistent hard-X-ray emission is well fitted by a coronal outflow model, where e± pairs in the magnetosphere upscatter thermal X-rays. Our fit of phase-resolved spectra allowed us to estimate the angle between the rotational and magnetic dipole axes of the magnetar αmag the twisted magnetic flux, 2.5 × 1026 G cm2, and the power released in the twisted magnetosphere, = 6 × 1036 erg s-1. Assuming this model for the hard-X-ray spectrum, the soft-X-ray component is well fit by a two-black body model, with the hotter blackbody consistent with the footprint of the twisted magnetic field lines on the star. We also report on the 3 yr Swift monitoring observations obtained since 2011 July. The soft-X-ray spectrum remained stable during this period, and the timing behavior was noisy, with large timing residuals.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number93
    JournalAstrophysical Journal
    Volume807
    Issue number1
    Number of pages16
    ISSN0004-637X
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015

    Keywords

    • Pulsars: individual (1E 1841–045)
    • Stars: magnetars
    • Stars: neutron
    • X-rays: bursts

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