The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754

X-ray observations unveiled various types of radio-silent isolated neutron stars (INSs), phenomenologically very diverse, e.g. the ~Myr old X-ray-dim INSs (XDINSs) and the ~kyr old magnetars. Although their phenomenology is much diverse, the similar periods (P = 2-10 s) and magnetic fields (≈1014G)...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado: 2013
Materias:
Neutron
Stars
Acceso en línea:https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_00358711_v429_n4_p3517_Mignani
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00358711_v429_n4_p3517_Mignani
Aporte de:
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) de Universidad de Buenos Aires
id paper:paper_00358711_v429_n4_p3517_Mignani
record_format dspace
spelling paper:paper_00358711_v429_n4_p3517_Mignani2023-06-08T15:01:35Z The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754 Neutron Stars X-ray observations unveiled various types of radio-silent isolated neutron stars (INSs), phenomenologically very diverse, e.g. the ~Myr old X-ray-dim INSs (XDINSs) and the ~kyr old magnetars. Although their phenomenology is much diverse, the similar periods (P = 2-10 s) and magnetic fields (≈1014G) suggest that XDINSs are evolved magnetars, possibly born from similar populations of supermassive stars. One way to test this hypothesis is to identify their parental star clusters by extrapolating backwards the NS velocity vector in the Galactic potential. By using the information on the age and space velocity of the XDINS RXJ1856.5-3754, we computed backwards its orbit in the Galactic potential and searched for its parental stellar cluster by means of a closest approach criterion. We found a very likely association with the Upper Scorpius OB association, for a NS age of 0.42 ± 0.08 Myr, a radial velocity Vr NS=67 ± 13 km s-1, and a present-time parallactic distance dπ NS=123-15 +11 pc. Our result confirms that the 'true' NS age is much lower than the spin-down age (τsd = 3.8Myr), and is in good agreement with the cooling age, as computed within standard cooling scenarios. The mismatch between the spin-down and the dynamical/cooling age would require either an anomalously large breaking index (n~20) or a decaying magnetic field with initial value B0≈1014G. Unfortunately, owing to the uncertainty on the age of the Upper Scorpius OB association and the masses of its members, we cannot yet draw firm conclusions on the estimated mass of the RXJ1856.5-3754 progenitor. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. 2013 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_00358711_v429_n4_p3517_Mignani http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00358711_v429_n4_p3517_Mignani
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Neutron
Stars
spellingShingle Neutron
Stars
The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754
topic_facet Neutron
Stars
description X-ray observations unveiled various types of radio-silent isolated neutron stars (INSs), phenomenologically very diverse, e.g. the ~Myr old X-ray-dim INSs (XDINSs) and the ~kyr old magnetars. Although their phenomenology is much diverse, the similar periods (P = 2-10 s) and magnetic fields (≈1014G) suggest that XDINSs are evolved magnetars, possibly born from similar populations of supermassive stars. One way to test this hypothesis is to identify their parental star clusters by extrapolating backwards the NS velocity vector in the Galactic potential. By using the information on the age and space velocity of the XDINS RXJ1856.5-3754, we computed backwards its orbit in the Galactic potential and searched for its parental stellar cluster by means of a closest approach criterion. We found a very likely association with the Upper Scorpius OB association, for a NS age of 0.42 ± 0.08 Myr, a radial velocity Vr NS=67 ± 13 km s-1, and a present-time parallactic distance dπ NS=123-15 +11 pc. Our result confirms that the 'true' NS age is much lower than the spin-down age (τsd = 3.8Myr), and is in good agreement with the cooling age, as computed within standard cooling scenarios. The mismatch between the spin-down and the dynamical/cooling age would require either an anomalously large breaking index (n~20) or a decaying magnetic field with initial value B0≈1014G. Unfortunately, owing to the uncertainty on the age of the Upper Scorpius OB association and the masses of its members, we cannot yet draw firm conclusions on the estimated mass of the RXJ1856.5-3754 progenitor. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.
title The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754
title_short The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754
title_full The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754
title_fullStr The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754
title_full_unstemmed The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754
title_sort birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star rx j1856.5-3754
publishDate 2013
url https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_00358711_v429_n4_p3517_Mignani
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00358711_v429_n4_p3517_Mignani
_version_ 1768543220437876736

Ejemplares similares