An exceptionally bright flare from SGR1806-20 and the origins of short-duration gamma-ray bursts

K. Hurley; S. E. Boggs; D. M. Smith; R. C. Duncan; R. Lin; A. Zoglauer; S. Krucker; G. Hurford; H. Hudson; C. Wigger; W. Hajdas; C. Thompson; I. Mitrofanov; A. Sanin; W. Boynton; C. Fellows; A. von Kienlin; G. Lichti; A. Rau; T. Cline

doi:10.1038/nature03519

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An exceptionally bright flare from SGR1806-20 and the origins of short-duration gamma-ray bursts

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Abstract

Soft-gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are galactic X-ray stars that emit numerous short-duration (about 0.1 s) bursts of hard X-rays during sporadic active periods. They are thought to be magnetars: strongly magnetized neutron stars with emissions powered by the dissipation of magnetic energy. Here we report the detection of a long (380 s) giant flare from SGR 1806-20, which was much more luminous than any previous transient event observed in our Galaxy. (In the first 0.2 s, the flare released as much energy as the Sun radiates in a quarter of a million years.) Its power can be explained by a catastrophic instability involving global crust failure and magnetic reconnection on a magnetar, with possible large-scale untwisting of magnetic field lines outside the star. From a great distance this event would appear to be a short-duration, hard-spectrum cosmic gamma-ray burst. At least a significant fraction of the mysterious short-duration gamma-ray bursts therefore may come from extragalactic magnetars.

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K. Hurley, S. E. Boggs, D. M. Smith, R. C. Duncan, R. Lin, A. Zoglauer, S. Krucker, G. Hurford, H. Hudson, C. Wigger, W. Hajdas, C. Thompson, I. Mitrofanov, A. Sanin, W. Boynton, C. Fellows, A. von Kienlin, G. Lichti, A. Rau, T. Cline. 2005-05-11. An exceptionally bright flare from SGR1806-20 and the origins of short-duration gamma-ray bursts. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03519

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