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A long-period, violently-variable X-ray source in a young SNR

A. De Luca·P. A. Caraveo·S. Mereghetti·A. Tiengo·G. F. Bignami
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Abstract

Observations with the Newton X-ray Multimirror Mission (XMM) show a strong periodic modulation at 6.67+/-0.03 hours of the X-ray source at the centre of the 2,000-year-old supernova remnant RCW 103. No fast pulsations are visible. If genetically tied to the supernova remnant, the source could either be an X-ray binary, comprising a compact object and a low-mass star in an eccentric orbit, or an isolated neutron star. In the latter case, its age-period combination would point to a peculiar magnetar, dramatically slowed-down, possibly by a supernova debris disc. Both scenarios require non-standard assumptions on the formation and evolution of compact objects in supernova explosions.

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A. De Luca, P. A. Caraveo, S. Mereghetti, A. Tiengo, G. F. Bignami. 2006-07-10. A long-period, violently-variable X-ray source in a young SNR. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1129185

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