Multi-wavelength variability of the magnetar 4U 0142+61

Abstract

We have collected data spanning seven years of observations of the magnetar 4U 0142+61 in the infrared, optical and soft X-rays. These combine our own observations and analysis of archival data. We find that the source is variable in the optical, in contrast to what had been previously reported, that the K-band flux can vary by over a magnitude on the time-scale of days, and that the X-ray pulsed flux is not obviously correlated with either the total X-ray flux or infrared and optical fluxes. Furthermore, from multi-color photometry of the source within single nights, we conclude that there are two separate components to the infrared emission. The overall picture is unclear, and prompts the need for further, more frequent observations.

20 pages, published in ApJ

References in corpus (4)

• A Debris Disk Around An Isolated Young Neutron Star
• Discovery of luminous pulsed hard X-ray emission from anomalous X-ray pulsars 1RXS J1708-4009, 4U 0142+61 and 1E 2259+586 by INTEGRAL and RXTE
• INTEGRAL survey of the Cassiopeia region in hard X rays
• Extinction Columns and Intrinsic X-ray Spectra of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars

Cited by in corpus (34)

• Magnetars
• The McGill Magnetar Catalog
• The strongest cosmic magnets: Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
• The Compact X-ray Source 1E 1547.0-5408 and the Radio Shell G327.24-0.13: A New Proposed Association between a Candidate Magnetar and a Candidate Supernova Remnant
• Possible Evidence for Free Precession of a Strongly Magnetized Neutron Star in the Magnetar 4U 0142+61
• Detailed high-energy characteristics of AXP 4U 0142+61 - Multi-year observations with INTEGRAL, RXTE, XMM-Newton and ASCA
• Recent Progress on Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
• The variable radio-to-X-ray spectrum of the magnetar XTE J1810-197
• Polarized x-rays from a magnetar
• X-ray and Near-IR Variability of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937: From Quiescence Back to Activity
• An accretion model for the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61
• A Mid-Infrared Counterpart to the Magnetar 1E 2259+586
• Very deep X-ray observations of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+614
• Soft and Hard X-Ray Emissions from the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61 Observed with Suzaku
• Long-term X-ray changes in the emission from the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61
• Spectral modelling of the high energy emission of the magnetar 4U 0142+614
• A white dwarf merger as progenitor of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61?
• Optical/Infrared Observations of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937 During Its 2007 X-Ray Flare
• Identification of the infrared counterpart of SGR 1935+2154 with the Hubble Space Telescope
• A magnetic white-dwarf accretion model for the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61
• Interaction and ablation of fall-back disks in isolated neutron stars
• The first multi-wavelength campaign of AXP 4U 0142+61 from radio to hard X-rays
• New candidates for magnetar counterparts from a deep search with the Hubble Space Telescope
• Search for the optical counterpart to SGR 0418+5729
• Suzaku Observation of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar CXOU J164710.2--455216
• Search for Mid-IR Flux Variations from The Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61
• The featureless and non-variable optical spectral energy distribution of AXP 4U 0142+61
• The infrared counterpart and proper motion of magnetar SGR0501+4516
• VLT observations of the magnetar CXO J164710.2-455216 and the detection of a candidate infrared counterpart
• Search for Near-Infrared Pulsation of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61
• Subaru constraint on circular polarization in I-band emission from the Magnetar 4U 0142+61
• Detection of precessing circumpulsar disks
• Clues from 4U 0142+61 on supernova fallback disc formation and precession
• The Fast Radio Burst-emitting magnetar SGR 1935+2154 -- proper motion and variability from long-term Hubble Space Telescope monitoring