Spin-Down of the Long-Period Accreting Pulsar 4U 2206+54

Abstract

4U 2206+54 is a high mass X-ray binary which has been suspected to contain a neutron star accreting from the wind of its companion BD +53 2790. Reig et al. have recently detected 5560 s period pulsations in both RXTE and INTEGRAL observations which they conclude are due to the spin of the neutron star. We present observations made with Suzaku which are contemporaneous with their RXTE observation of this source. We find strong pulsations at a period of 5554 +/- 9 s in agreement with their results. We also present a reanalysis of BeppoSAX observations of 4U 2206+54 made in 1998, in which we find strong pulsations at a period of 5420 +/- 28 seconds, revealing a spin-down trend in this long-period accreting pulsar. Analysis of these data suggests that the neutron star in this system is an accretion-powered magnetar.

Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (4)

• Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) on Board Suzaku
• Swift/BAT and RXTE Observations of the Peculiar X-ray Binary 4U 2206+54 - Disappearance of the 9.6 Day Modulation
• The origin of long-period X-ray pulsars
• Discovery of slow X-ray pulsations in the high-mass X-ray binary 4U 2206+54

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