Hurley K, Boggs SE, Smith DM, Duncan RC, Lin R, Zoglauer A, Krucker S, Hurford G, Hudson H, Wigger C, Hajdas W, Thompson C, Mitrofanov I, Sanin A, Boynton W, Fellows C, von Kienlin A, Lichti G, Rau A, Cline T. An exceptionally bright flare from SGR 1806–20 and the origins of short-duration γ-ray bursts.
Nature 2005;
434:1098-103. [PMID:
15858565 DOI:
10.1038/nature03519]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 435] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2005] [Accepted: 03/04/2005] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Soft-gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are galactic X-ray stars that emit numerous short-duration (about 0.1 s) bursts of hard X-rays during sporadic active periods. They are thought to be magnetars: strongly magnetized neutron stars with emissions powered by the dissipation of magnetic energy. Here we report the detection of a long (380 s) giant flare from SGR 1806-20, which was much more luminous than any previous transient event observed in our Galaxy. (In the first 0.2 s, the flare released as much energy as the Sun radiates in a quarter of a million years.) Its power can be explained by a catastrophic instability involving global crust failure and magnetic reconnection on a magnetar, with possible large-scale untwisting of magnetic field lines outside the star. From a great distance this event would appear to be a short-duration, hard-spectrum cosmic gamma-ray burst. At least a significant fraction of the mysterious short-duration gamma-ray bursts may therefore come from extragalactic magnetars.
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