Very-high-frequency oscillations in the main peak of a magnetar giant flare

A. J. Castro-Tirado, N. Østgaard (), E. Göǧüş (), C. Sánchez-Gil, J. Pascual-Granado, V. Reglero, A. Mezentsev (), M. Gabler (), M. Marisaldi (), T. Neubert, C. Budtz-Jørgensen, A. Lindanger, D. Sarria, I. Kuvvetli, P. Cerdá-Durán, J. Navarro-González, J. A. Font, B.-B. Zhang, N. Lund, C. A. Oxborrow, S. Brandt, M. D. Caballero-García, I. M. Carrasco-García, A. Castellón, M. A. Castro Tirado, F. Christiansen, C. J. Eyles, E. Fernández-García, G. Genov, S. Guziy, Y.-D. Hu, A. Nicuesa Guelbenzu, S. B. Pandey, Z.-K. Peng, C. Pérez del Pulgar, A. J. Reina Terol, E. Rodríguez, R. Sánchez-Ramírez, T. Sun, K. Ullaland and S. Yang
Additional contact information
A. J. Castro-Tirado: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC)
N. Østgaard: University of Bergen
E. Göǧüş: Sabancı University
C. Sánchez-Gil: Universidad de Cádiz
J. Pascual-Granado: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC)
V. Reglero: Universitat de València
A. Mezentsev: University of Bergen
M. Gabler: Universitat de València
M. Marisaldi: University of Bergen
T. Neubert: Technical University of Denmark
C. Budtz-Jørgensen: Technical University of Denmark
A. Lindanger: University of Bergen
D. Sarria: University of Bergen
I. Kuvvetli: Technical University of Denmark
P. Cerdá-Durán: Universitat de València
J. Navarro-González: Universitat de València
J. A. Font: Universitat de València
B.-B. Zhang: Nanjing University
N. Lund: Technical University of Denmark
C. A. Oxborrow: Technical University of Denmark
S. Brandt: Technical University of Denmark
M. D. Caballero-García: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC)
I. M. Carrasco-García: Universidad de Málaga
A. Castellón: Universidad de Málaga
M. A. Castro Tirado: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC)
F. Christiansen: Technical University of Denmark
C. J. Eyles: Universitat de València
E. Fernández-García: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC)
G. Genov: University of Bergen
S. Guziy: Mykolaiv National University
Y.-D. Hu: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC)
A. Nicuesa Guelbenzu: Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg
S. B. Pandey: Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES)
Z.-K. Peng: Nanjing University
C. Pérez del Pulgar: Universidad de Málaga
A. J. Reina Terol: Universidad de Málaga
E. Rodríguez: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC)
R. Sánchez-Ramírez: Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, INAF
T. Sun: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IAA-CSIC)
K. Ullaland: University of Bergen
S. Yang: University of Bergen

Nature, 2021, vol. 600, issue 7890, 621-624

Abstract: Abstract Magnetars are strongly magnetized, isolated neutron stars1–3 with magnetic fields up to around 1015 gauss, luminosities of approximately 1031–1036 ergs per second and rotation periods of about 0.3–12.0 s. Very energetic giant flares from galactic magnetars (peak luminosities of 1044–1047 ergs per second, lasting approximately 0.1 s) have been detected in hard X-rays and soft γ-rays4, and only one has been detected from outside our galaxy5. During such giant flares, quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) with low (less than 150 hertz) and high (greater than 500 hertz) frequencies have been observed6–9, but their statistical significance has been questioned10. High-frequency QPOs have been seen only during the tail phase of the flare9. Here we report the observation of two broad QPOs at approximately 2,132 hertz and 4,250 hertz in the main peak of a giant γ-ray flare11 in the direction of the NGC 253 galaxy12–17, disappearing after 3.5 milliseconds. The flare was detected on 15 April 2020 by the Atmosphere–Space Interactions Monitor instrument18,19 aboard the International Space Station, which was the only instrument that recorded the main burst phase (0.8–3.2 milliseconds) in the full energy range (50 × 103 to 40 × 106 electronvolts) without suffering from saturation effects such as deadtime and pile-up. Along with sudden spectral variations, these extremely high-frequency oscillations in the burst peak are a crucial component that will aid our understanding of magnetar giant flares.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04101-1

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