What makes a Neutron Star a Magnetar?

Details What makes a Neutron Star a Magnetar? What makes a Neutron Star a Magnetar?

Jun 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005sptz.prop20747w&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #20747

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Scientific paper

There exists a small class of high-energy transients that are thought to be "magnetars", i.e. neutron stars with ultrahigh magnetic fields. At the same time, we now also know of a small sample of radio pulsars with magnetic field strengths approaching or overlapping those of the magnetar candidates, but do not exhibit the same type of high energy phenomena. This raises the question why some neutron stars are "normal" radio pulsars, while others are X-ray and gamma-ray emitting magnetars. The magnetic field strength alone cannot be the sole factor in determining whether a neutron star exhibits magnetar characteristics. One suggestion is that magnetars originate from more massive progenitors than radio pulsars, so that the environment in which these neutron stars are formed plays a critical role. Embedded clusters of massive stars have been detected around some of the magnetar candidates in the near-IR. We propose a uniform study of the environment of magnetars with Spitzer, with the goals of searching for additional embedded clusters, characterizing the mid-IR SEDs of their stellar contents and searching for evidence of mass loss events from the massive star progenitors.

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