Anti-Glitch in the Magnetar 1E 2259+586
Abstract
One of the few windows we have into the inner-workings of neutron stars is to study spin-up glitches -- sudden increases in a neutron star's spin rate. We present a series of X-ray timing observations of the magnetar 1E 2259+586 obtained using the Swift X-ray Telescope which clearly show an "anti-glitch" -- a sudden spin down of the neutron star. This anti-glitch was accompanied by an X-ray flux flare, and marked the start of a 90-day period of greatly enhanced spin down of the star, ended by a spin-up glitch of comparable amplitude. We argue that this anti-glitch had its physical origins in the interior of the neutron star, and can therefore be used as a new probe into the internal structure of high magnetic field neutron stars.
- Publication:
-
AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #13
- Pub Date:
- April 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013HEAD...1310309A