2006/10/19 by N. Rea, G. L. Israel, T. Oosterbroek +8
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Glitch #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Neutron star #Optics #Physics #Pulsar #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Scattering #X-ray #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10509-007-9310-5
7 pages, 5 color figures; Astrophysics & Space Science, in press ("Isolated Neutron Stars"; London, UK)
arxiv created 2006/10/19 · openalex publication_date 2007/03/19 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We report here on X-ray and IR observations of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar (AXP) 1RXS J170849-400910. First, we report on new XMM-Newton, Swift-XRT and Chandra observations of this AXP, which confirm the intensity–hardness correlation observed in the long term X-ray monitoring of this source. These new X-ray observations show that the AXP flux is rising again, and the spectrum hardening. If the increase of the source intensity is indeed connected with the glitches and a possible bursting activity, we expect this source to enter in a bursting active phase around 2006–2007. Second, we report on deep IR observations of 1RXS J170849-400910, taken with the VLT-NACO adaptive optics, showing that there are many weak sources consistent with the AXP position. Neither star A or B, as previously proposed by different authors, might yet be conclusively recognised as the IR counterpart of 1RXS J170849-400910. Third, using Monte Carlo simulations, we re-address the calculation of the significance of the absorption line found in a phase-resolved spectrum of this source, and interpreted as a resonant scattering cyclotron feature.