An expanding radio nebula produced by a giant flare from the magnetar SGR 1806–20

B. M. Gaensler (), C. Kouveliotou, J. D. Gelfand, G. B. Taylor, D. Eichler, R. A. M. J. Wijers, J. Granot, E. Ramirez-Ruiz, Y. E. Lyubarsky, R. W. Hunstead, D. Campbell-Wilson, A. J. van der Horst, M. A. McLaughlin, R. P. Fender, M. A. Garrett, K. J. Newton-McGee, D. M. Palmer, N. Gehrels and P. M. Woods
Additional contact information
B. M. Gaensler: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
C. Kouveliotou: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
J. D. Gelfand: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
G. B. Taylor: Stanford University
D. Eichler: Ben Gurion University
R. A. M. J. Wijers: University of Amsterdam
J. Granot: Stanford University
E. Ramirez-Ruiz: Institute for Advanced Study
Y. E. Lyubarsky: Ben Gurion University
R. W. Hunstead: School of Physics, University of Sydney
D. Campbell-Wilson: School of Physics, University of Sydney
A. J. van der Horst: University of Amsterdam
M. A. McLaughlin: University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank Observatory
R. P. Fender: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton
M. A. Garrett: Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe
K. J. Newton-McGee: School of Physics, University of Sydney
D. M. Palmer: Los Alamos National Laboratory
N. Gehrels: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
P. M. Woods: Universities Space Research Association, NSSTC, XD-12

Nature, 2005, vol. 434, issue 7037, 1104-1106

Abstract: Flares back in fashion On 27 December last year, SGR1806–20, a soft γ-ray repeater in Sagittarius, released a giant flare that has been called the brightest explosion ever recorded. SGRs are X-ray stars that sporadically emit low-energy γ-ray bursts. They are thought to be magnetars: neutron stars with observable emissions powered by magnetic dissipation. Five papers in this issue report initial and follow-up observations of this event. The data are remarkable: for instance in a fifth of a second, the flare released as much energy as the Sun radiates in a quarter of a million years. Such power can be explained by catastrophic global crust failure and magnetic reconnection on a magnetar. Releasing a hundred times the energy of the only two previous SGR giant flares, this may have been a once-in-a-lifetime event for astronomers, and for the star itself.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03498

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