The infrared counterpart and proper motion of magnetar SGR0501+4516
arXiv:2504.08892 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202453479
Abstract
Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) are highly magnetised neutron stars (magnetars) notable for their gamma-ray and X-ray outbursts. In this paper, we use near-infrared (NIR) imaging of SGR 0501+4516 in the days, weeks, and years after its 2008 outburst to characterise the multi-wavelength emission, and to obtain a proper motion from our long temporal baseline observations. Unlike most magnetars, the source has only moderate foreground extinction with minimal crowding. Our observations began only 2 hours after the first activation of SGR 0501+4516 in August 2008, and continued for 4 years, including two epochs of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging. The proper motion constraint is improved by a third HST epoch 10 years later. The near-infrared and X-rays faded slowly during the first week, thereafter following a steeper power-law decay. The behaviour is satisfactorily fit by a broken power-law. Three epochs of HST imaging with a 10-year baseline allow us to determine a quiescent level, and to measure a proper motion of 5.4+/-0.6 mas/yr. This corresponds to a low transverse peculiar velocity of 51+/-14 km/s (at 2 kpc). The magnitude and direction of the proper motion rules out supernova remnant HB9 as the birth-site. We can find no other supernova remnants or groups of massive stars within the region traversed by SGR 0501+4516 during its characteristic lifetime (20 kyr). Our observations of SGR 0501+4516 suggest that some magnetars may be either significantly older than expected, that their progenitors produce low supernova ejecta masses, or alternatively that they can be formed through accretion-induced collapse (AIC) or low-mass neutron star mergers. Although the progenitor of SGR 0501+4516 remains unclear, we propose that SGR 0501+4516 is the best Galactic candidate for a magnetar formed through a mechanism other than massive star core-collapse.
Accepted for publication in A&A. 8 figures, 1 table
References in corpus (67)
- Array Programming with NumPy
- Gaia Data Release 3: Summary of the content and survey properties
- Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis Version 2.1: construction, observational verification and new results
- A fast radio burst associated with a Galactic magnetar
- A bright millisecond-duration radio burst from a Galactic magnetar
- The strongest cosmic magnets: Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
- Southern Massive Stars at High Angular Resolution: Observational Campaign and Companion Detection
- The UKIDSS Galactic Plane Survey
- Transient pulsed radio emission from a magnetar
- Short Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts with Extended Emission from Proto-Magnetar Spin-Down
- Corona of Magnetars
- INTEGRAL discovery of a burst with associated radio emission from the magnetar SGR 1935+2154
- A Debris Disk Around An Isolated Young Neutron Star
- The observed velocity distribution of young pulsars
- Supernova remnant energetics and magnetars: no evidence in favour of millisecond proto-neutron stars
- A downward revision to the distance of the 1806-20 cluster and associated magnetar from Gemini near-Infrared spectroscopy
- A long-period, violently-variable X-ray source in a young SNR
- Magnetars as persistent hard X-ray sources: INTEGRAL discovery of a hard tail in SGR 1900+14
- Formation Rates and Evolution Histories of Magnetars
- Distances to Anomalous X-ray Pulsars using Red Clump Stars
- Detection of two bright radio bursts from magnetar SGR 1935+2154
- Magnetar-like activity from the central compact object in the SNR RCW103
- The variable radio-to-X-ray spectrum of the magnetar XTE J1810-197
- Turbulent magnetic field amplification in binary neutron star mergers
- Long-term evolution of a magnetic massive merger product
- Identification of a Local Sample of Gamma-Ray Bursts Consistent with a Magnetar Giant Flare Origin
- Radio Spectrum and Distance of the SNR HB9
- A VLT/FLAMES survey for massive binaries in Westerlund 1. IV. Wd1-5 - binary product and a pre-supernova companion for the magnetar CXOU J1647-45?
- Origin of neutron star magnetic fields
- Revisiting the distance, environment and supernova properties of SNR G57.2+0.8 that hosts SGR 1935+2154
- Dynamical Formation Channels for Fast Radio Bursts in Globular Clusters
- A Mid-Infrared Counterpart to the Magnetar 1E 2259+586
- A massive helium star with a sufficiently strong magnetic field to form a magnetar
- A new scenario for magnetar formation: Tayler-Spruit dynamo in a proto-neutron star spun up by fallback
- Multi-frequency observations of SGR J1935+2154
- Adaptive optics near-infrared observations of magnetars
- Kinematic properties of white dwarfs. Galactic orbital parameters and age-velocity dispersion relation
- Deep Synoptic Array science: A massive elliptical host among two galaxy-cluster fast radio bursts
- 1E161348-5055 in the Supernova Remnant RCW 103: A Magnetar in a Young Low Mass Binary System?
- Rotational evolution of magnetars in the presence of a fallback disk
- Comparing supernova remnants around strongly magnetized and canonical pulsars
- Numerical Simulations of Equatorially-Asymmetric Magnetized Supernovae: Formation of Magnetars and Their Kicks
- The Search for Faint Radio Supernova Remnants in the Outer Galaxy: Five New Discoveries
- Optical pulsations from the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937
- Expansion of Kes 73, a Shell Supernova Remnant Containing a Magnetar
- Constraining the Proper Motions of Two Magnetars
- Where are the magnetar binary companions? Candidates from a comparison with binary population synthesis predictions
- Measuring proper motions of isolated neutron stars with Chandra
- Gamma-ray bursts and kilonovae from the accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs
- The Magnetized White Dwarf + Helium star Binary Evolution with Accretion-induced Collapse
- The life cycle of magnetars: a novel approach to estimate their ages
- The infrared counterpart to the magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910
- The Early Evolution of Magnetar Rotation I: Slowly Rotating "Normal" Magnetars
- Supernova Remnant Candidates Discovered by the SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey
- On the fallback disk around the slowest isolated pulsar, 1E 1613485055
- Distance of PSR B0458+46 indicated by FAST HI absorption observations
- High resolution H-alpha imaging of the Northern Galactic Plane, and the IGAPS images database
- Tayler-Spruit dynamo in stably stratified rotating fluids: Application to proto-magnetars
- New candidates for magnetar counterparts from a deep search with the Hubble Space Telescope
- The velocity distribution of white dwarfs in Gaia EDR3
- Searching for Magnetar Binaries Disrupted by Core-Collapse Supernovae
- Searching for ejected supernova companions in the era of precise proper motion and radial velocity measurements
- Progenitor constraint with circumstellar material for the magnetar-hosting supernova remnant RCW 103
- Detection of a new sample of Galactic White Dwarfs in the direction of the Small Magellanic Cloud
- VLT observations of the magnetar CXO J164710.2-455216 and the detection of a candidate infrared counterpart
- The origin of the coherent radio flash potentially associated with GRB 201006A
- Numerical Relativity Estimates of the Remnant Recoil Velocity in Binary Neutron Star Mergers