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

Abstract

Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) are "magnetars", a small class of slowly spinning neutron stars with extreme surface magnetic fields, ~10^15 gauss. On 2004 December 27, a giant flare was detected from the magnetar SGR 1806-20, the third such event ever recorded. This burst of energy was detected by a variety of instruments and even caused an ionospheric disturbance in the Earth's upper atmosphere recorded around the globe. Here we report the detection of a fading radio afterglow produced by this outburst, with a luminosity 500 times larger than the only other detection of a similar source. From day 6 to day 19 after the flare from SGR 1806-20, a resolved, linearly polarized, radio nebula was seen, expanding at approximately a quarter the speed of light. To create this nebula, at least 4x10^43 ergs of energy must have been emitted by the giant flare in the form of magnetic fields and relativistic particles. The combination of spatially resolved structure and rapid time evolution allows a study in unprecedented detail of a nearby analog to supernovae and gamma-ray bursts.

13 pages, including 2 colour & 1 b/w figures, and supplementary methods. Uses nature.sty. Nature, in press (submitted 18 Jan 2005, accepted 17 Feb 2005). Corrected epoch of uv data in Figure 1

References in corpus (16)

• The Dynamics and Light Curves of Beamed Gamma Ray Burst Afterglows
• The Velocity Distribution of Isolated Radio Pulsars
• An exceptionally bright flare from SGR1806-20 and the origins of short-duration gamma-ray bursts
• Gamma-Ray Observations of a Giant Flare from The Magnetar SGR 1806-20
• A giant, periodic flare from the soft gamma repeater SGR1900+14
• The Giant Flare of 1998 August 27 from SGR 1900+14: II. Radiative Mechanism and Physical Constraints on the Source
• Images and Spectra From the Interior of a Relativistic Fireball
• A Relativistic Particle Outburst From The Soft Gamma-Ray Repeater SGR1900+14
• Physical Mechanisms for the Variable Spin-down of SGR 1900+14
• The Connection between W31, SGR 1806-20, & LBV 1806-20: Distance, Extinction, and Structure
• Large Torque Variations in Two Soft Gamma Repeaters
• Multi-wavelength observations of the Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 1900+14 during its April 2001 activation
• Precise Chandra Localization of the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater SGR 1806-20
• An optical bow shock around the nearby millisecond pulsar J2124-3358
• PSR J1907+0918 - a young radio pulsar near SGR 1900+14 and G42.8+0.6
• The radio afterglow from the giant flare of SGR 1900+14: the same mechanism as afterglows from classic gamma-ray bursts?

Cited by in corpus (125)

• Magnetars
• Physics of Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars
• The Evolution and Structure of Pulsar Wind Nebulae
• The strongest cosmic magnets: Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
• Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era
• An exceptionally bright flare from SGR1806-20 and the origins of short-duration gamma-ray bursts
• Gamma-Ray Observations of a Giant Flare from The Magnetar SGR 1806-20
• An extreme magneto-ionic environment associated with the fast radio burst source FRB 121102
• A model for fast extragalactic radio bursts
• Magnetars: the physics behind observations
• A Living Theory Catalogue for Fast Radio Bursts
• Discovery of Rapid X-ray Oscillations in the Tail of the SGR 1806-20 Hyperflare
• Jets in neutron star X-ray binaries: a comparison with black holes
• The Progenitors of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Science with the Murchison Widefield Array
• A flaring magnetar in FRB 121102?
• A Burst in a Wind Bubble and the Impact on Baryonic Ejecta: High-Energy Gamma-Ray Flashes and Afterglows from Fast Radio Bursts and Pulsar-Driven Supernova Remnants
• Blast Waves from Magnetar Flares and Fast Radio Bursts
• Discovery of an Extraordinarily Massive Cluster of Red Supergiants
• Fast radio bursts as giant pulses from young rapidly rotating pulsars
• The Prelude to and Aftermath of the Giant Flare of 2004 December 27: Persistent and Pulsed X-ray Properties of SGR 1806-20 from 1993 to 2005
• The Caltech-NRAO Stripe 82 Survey (CNSS) Paper I: The Pilot Radio Transient Survey In 50 deg${}^2$
• Magnetar outbursts: an observational review
• Heating and Non-thermal Particle Acceleration in Relativistic, Transverse Magnetosonic Shock Waves in Proton-Electron-Positron Plasmas
• VAST: An ASKAP Survey for Variables and Slow Transients
• SubmilliJansky Transients in Archival Radio Observations
• The Case for Anisotropic Afterglow Efficiency within Gamma-Ray Burst Jets
• Prompt and Afterglow Emission Properties of Gamma-Ray Bursts with Spectroscopically Identified Supernovae
• Diagnosing the outflow from the SGR 1806-20 Giant Flare with Radio Observations
• Constraints on the Engines of Fast Radio Bursts
• Post-outburst Observations of the Magnetically Active Pulsar J1846-0258: a new braking index, increased timing noise, and radiative recovery
• Discovery of Radio Emission from Transient Anomalous X-ray Pulsar XTE J1810-197
• Infrared Echoes near the Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
• The progenitor mass of the magnetar SGR1900+14
• Radio Emission from the Intermediate-mass Black Hole in the Globular Cluster G1
• Pulsar-wind nebulae and magnetar outflows: observations at radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths
• A 22-year Southern Sky Survey for Transient and Variable Radio Sources using the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope
• The variability timescales and brightness temperatures of radio flares from stars to supermassive black holes
• A Re-brightening of the Radio Nebula associated with the 2004 December 27 giant flare from SGR 1806--20
• Pure and loaded fireballs in SGR giant flares
• Magnetars: a short review and some sparse considerations
• SGR giant flares in the BATSE short GRB catalogue: constraints from spectroscopy
• Large magnetic field variations towards the Galactic Centre magnetar, PSR J1745-2900
• Proper Motions and Origins of SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14
• TeV-PeV Neutrinos from Giant Flares of Magnetars and the Case of SGR 1806-20
• The wind nebula around magnetar Swift J1834.9-0846
• Sensitive Search For Radio Variables And Transients In The Extended Chandra Deep-Field South
• Discovery and Monitoring of the likely IR Counterpart of SGR 1806-20 during the 2004 gamma-ray burst-active state
• The Giant Flare of December 27, 2004 from SGR 1806-20
• Unveiling the Origin of GRB 090709A: Lack of Periodicity in a Reddened Cosmological Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Burst
• Constraints on the distance to SGR 1806-20 from HI absorption
• The Growth, Polarization, and Motion of the Radio Afterglow from the Giant Flare from SGR 1806-20
• Fast Radio Burst Breakouts from Magnetar Burst Fireballs
• SGR 1806-20 about two years after the giant flare: Suzaku, XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL observations
• Suzaku Observation of the New Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 0501+4516 in Outburst
• Search for radio pulsations in four Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and discovery of two new pulsars
• Pulsars and magnetars
• On the trigger mechanisms for SGR giant flares
• The Sleeping Monster: NuSTAR observations of SGR 1806-20, 11 years after the Giant Flare
• XMM-Newton view of Swift J1834.9-0846 and its Magnetar Wind Nebula
• An automated archival VLA transients survey
• A first look with Chandra at SGR 1806-20 after the Giant Flare: significant spectral softening and rapid flux decay
• Envelope Expansion with Core Collapse. III. Similarity Isothermal Shocks in a Magnetofluid
• Comparative study of the inial spikes of SGR giant flares in 1998 and 2004 observed with GEOTAIL: Do magnetospheric instabilities trigger large scale fracturing of magnetar's crust?
• XMM-Newton observations of SGR 1806-20 over seven years following the 2004 Giant Flare
• Magnetar Giant Flares --- Flux Rope Eruptions in Multipolar Magnetospheric Magnetic Fields
• Mars Odyssey Joins The Third Interplanetary Network
• How else can we detect Fast Radio Bursts?
• Oscillation Driven Magnetospheric Activity In Pulsars
• Constraining Radio Emission from Magnetars
• Radiation Forces Constrain the FRB Mechanism
• An MHD Model For Magnetar Giant Flares
• Uniting the Quiescent Emission and Burst Spectra of Magnetar Candidates
• Magnetars: Structure and evolution from p-star models
• Dynamics of baryon ejection in magnetar giant flares: implications for radio afterglows, r-process nucleosynthesis, and fast radio bursts
• Extended Tails from SGR 1806-20 Bursts
• Structure of magnetic fields in intracluster cavities
• Giant flare of SGR 1806-20 from a relativistic jet
• Magnetar Giant Flares in Multipolar Magnetic Fields --- II. Flux Rope Eruptions With Current Sheets
• Models of hydrostatic magnetar atmospheres at high luminosities
• Gravitational Wave Astronomy
• On the Extended Emission Around the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1E 1547.0-5408
• Search for GeV counterparts to fast radio bursts with Fermi
• Structure in the radio counterpart to the 2004 Dec 27 giant flare from SGR 1806-20
• Strongly magnetized pulsars: explosive events and evolution
• A Matched Filter Technique For Slow Radio Transient Detection And First Demonstration With The Murchison Widefield Array
• Magnetar Giant Flares in Multipolar Magnetic Fields --- I. Fully and Partially Open Eruptions of Flux Ropes
• Possibility of Ultra High-Energy Cosmic Rays from the Giant Flare in SGR 1806-20
• Radiatively driven evaporation from magnetar's surface
• On the Diversity of Compact Objects within Supernova Remnants II: Energy Loss Mechanisms
• r-Process Nucleosynthesis and Radioactively Powered Transients from Magnetar Giant Flares
• Photospheric radius expansion during magnetar bursts
• Relativistic Fireball Reprise: Radio Suppression at the Onset of Short Magnetar Bursts
• A Two-Component Explosion Model for the Giant Flare and Radio Afterglow from SGR1806-20
• Magnetic loading of magnetars' flares
• A Broadband Emission Model of Magnetar Wind Nebulae
• High Energy Afterglow Emission from Giant Flares of Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters: The Case of the 2004 December 27 Event from SGR 1806-20
• The AARTFAAC 60 MHz transients survey
• Discovery of a radio transient in M81
• Magnetar Giant Flare Originated GRB 200415A: Transient GeV emission, Time-Resolved ${\mathrm{E}}_{\mathrm{p}}-{\mathrm{L}}_{\mathrm{iso}}$ Correlation, and Implications
• Astrophysics in 2005
• Special Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of Two-Component Outflow Powered by Magnetic Explosion on Compact Stars
• Numerical Modeling of the Radio Nebula from the 2004 December 27 Giant Flare of SGR 1806-20
• Diffuse high energy neutrinos and cosmic rays from hyperflares of soft-gamma repeaters
• A search using GEO600 for gravitational waves coincident with fast radio bursts from SGR 1935+2154
• One of Everything: The Breakthrough Listen Exotica Catalog
• Searching for Radio Transients with Inverted Spectra in Epoch 1 of VLASS and VCSS, and Identification of a Sample of Candidate Relativistic Nuclear Transients
• X-ray Observations of Radio Transients without Optical Hosts
• Mid-infrared VISIR and Spitzer observations of the surroundings of the magnetar SGR 1806-20
• Back to quiescence: post-outburst evolution of the pulsar J1119-6127 and its wind nebula
• Radio afterglow of magnetars' giant flares
• Magnetars' Giant Flares: the case of SGR 1806-20
• Eclipsed X-ray Bursts from Magnetar SGR J1935+2154 and the Fireball Measurements
• Pulsar Wind Nebulae: On their growing diversity and association with highly magnetized neutron stars
• Detection of Quasi-periodic Oscillations in SGR 150228213
• Deep Synoptic Array Science: Searching for Long Duration Radio Transients with the DSA-110
• Emission Mechanisms of Fast Radio Bursts
• A Criterion for Magnetars Producing Giant Flares
• Magnetar giant flare origin for GRB 200415A inferred from a new scaling relation and its implications
• AT2020hur: A Possible Optical Counterpart of FRB 180916B
• 600-T Magnetic Fields due to Cold Electron Flow in a simple Cu-Coil irradiated by High Power Laser pulses
• Searching for small-scale diffuse emission around SGR 1806-20
• High Sensitivity Methodologies to Detect Radio Band Gravitational Waves
• Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Giant Magnetar Bursts
• Hyperstars - Main Origin of Short Gamma Ray Bursts?