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A Stellar Wind Bubble Coincident with the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937: Are Magnetars Formed From Massive Progenitors?

B. M. Gaensler·N. M. McClure-Griffiths·M. S. Oey·M. Haverkorn·J. M. Dickey·A. J. Green
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Abstract

We present 21-cm HI observations from the Southern Galactic Plane Survey of the field around the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937, a source whose X-ray properties imply that it is a highly magnetized neutron star (a "magnetar"). These data reveal an expanding hydrogen shell, GSH 288.3-0.5-28, centered on 1E 1048.1-5937, with a diameter of 35x23 pc (for a distance of 2.7 kpc) and an expansion velocity of approx 7.5 km/s. We interpret GSH 288.3-0.5-28 as a wind bubble blown by a 30-40 M_sun star, but no such central star can be readily identified. We suggest that GSH 288.3-0.5-28 is the wind bubble blown by the massive progenitor of 1E 1048.1-5937, and consequently propose that magnetars originate from more massive progenitors than do radio pulsars. This may be evidence that the initial spin period of a neutron star is correlated with the mass of its progenitor, and implies that the magnetar birth rate is only a small fraction of that for radio pulsars.

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B. M. Gaensler, N. M. McClure-Griffiths, M. S. Oey, M. Haverkorn, J. M. Dickey, A. J. Green. 2005-01-26. A Stellar Wind Bubble Coincident with the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937: Are Magnetars Formed From Massive Progenitors?. https://doi.org/10.1086/428725

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