Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) are now widely believed to be magnetars—young, isolated, highly magnetized neutron stars. These energetic X-ray pulsars are characterized by slow rotation periods of ~2–12 seconds and large magnetic fields of ~1013–1015 gauss (1 to 100 gigateslas). There are currently (as of 2009) 9 known and 1 candidate AXPs. The identification of AXPs with magnetars was motivated by their similarity to another enigmatic class of sources, the soft gamma repeaters.
| A list of AXP candidates and their estimated rotation period in seconds, as of 2003, follows: | ||
| AXP 1E 2259+586 | 6.98 | |
| AXP 1E 1048-59 | 6.45 | |
| AXP 4U 0142+61 | 8.69 | |
| AXP 1RXS 1708-40 | 11.0 | |
| AXP 1E 1841-045 | 11.8 | |
| AXP AXJ1844-0258 | 6.97 | |
| AXP CXJ0110-7211 | 5.44 | |
| Please note that the second, fourth, and last names were abbreviated | ||
Famous quotes containing the word anomalous:
“Before the land rose out of the ocean, and became dry land, chaos reigned; and between high and low water mark, where she is partially disrobed and rising, a sort of chaos reigns still, which only anomalous creatures can inhabit.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)