2024-03-29T05:11:04Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/75792022-12-01T12:16:38Zcom_10261_97com_10261_4col_10261_350
00925njm 22002777a 4500
dc
Castro-Tirado, Alberto J.
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Ugarte Postigo, Antonio de
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Gorosabel, Javier
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Jelínek, Martin
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Fatkhullin, T. A.
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Sokolov, Vladimir V.
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Ferrero, P.
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Kann, David Alexander
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Klose, Sylvio
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Sluse, Dominique
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Bremer, M.
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Winters, Jan Martin
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Nuernberger, Dieter
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Pérez-Ramírez, Dolores
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Guerrero, Martín A.
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French, J.
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Melady, Gary
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Hanlon, Lorraine
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McBreen, B.
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Leventis, K.
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Markoff, Sera
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Léon, Stéphane
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Kraus, A.
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Aceituno, Francisco José
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Cunniffe, R.
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Kubánek, Petr
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Vítek, Stanislav
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Schulze, Steve
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Wilson, Alex C.
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Hudec, R.
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Durant, M.
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González-Pérez, J. M.
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Shahbaz, Tarik
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Guziy, Sergey
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Pandey, Shashi Bhushan
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Pavlenko, Elena P.
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Sonbas, Eda
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Trushkin, Sergei A.
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Bursov, N. N.
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Nizhelskij, Nikolaj A.
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Sánchez-Fernández, Celia
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Sabau-Graziati, Lola
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2008-09-28
Magnetars are young neutron stars with very strong magnetic fields of the order of 1014-1015G. They are detected in our Galaxy either as soft γ-ray repeaters or anomalous X-ray pulsars. Soft γ-ray repeaters are a rare type of γ-ray transient sources that are occasionally detected as bursters in the high-energy sky. No optical counterpart to the γ-ray flares or the quiescent source has yet been identified. Here we report multi-wavelength observations of a puzzling source, SWIFT J195509+261406. We detected more than 40 flaring episodes in the optical band over a time span of three days, and a faint infrared flare 11days later, after which the source returned to quiescence. Our radio observations confirm a Galactic nature and establish a lower distance limit of ~3.7kpc. We suggest that SWIFT J195509+261406 could be an isolated magnetar whose bursting activity has been detected at optical wavelengths, and for which the long-term X-ray emission is short-lived. In this case, a new manifestation of magnetar activity has been recorded and we can consider SWIFT J195509+261406 to be a link between the `persistent' soft γ-ray repeaters/anomalous X-ray pulsars and dim isolated neutron stars.
Nature 455(7212): 506-509 (2008)
0028-0836
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/7579
10.1038/nature07328
1476-4687
Flares from a candidate Galactic magnetar suggest a missing link to dim isolated neutron stars