A Long-Period, Violently Variable X-ray Source in a Young Supernova Remnant
Abstract
Observations with the Newton X-ray Multimirror Mission satellite show a strong periodic modulation at 6.67 +/- 0.03 hours of the x-ray source at the center of the 2000-year-old supernova remnant RCW 103. No fast pulsations are visible. If genetically tied to the supernova remnant, the source could either be an x-ray binary, composed of a compact object and a low-mass star in an eccentric orbit, or an isolated neutron star. In the latter case, the combination of its age and period would indicate that it is a peculiar magnetar, dramatically slowed down, possibly by a supernova debris disc. Both scenarios require nonstandard assumptions about the formation and evolution of compact objects in supernova explosions.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- August 2006
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1129185
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0607173
- Bibcode:
- 2006Sci...313..814D
- Keywords:
-
- ASTRONOMY;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication in Science. Published online via Science Express on 2006, July 6. 17 pages, 7 figures