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Joint Astrophysics Colloquium
Pete Woods
Marshall Space Flight Center Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) are rare, transient burst sources postulated to be highly magnetized neutron stars or "magnetars". They are defined by their recurrent, super-Eddington burst emission, although each object is also associated with a persistent X-ray source. Observations of the quiescent X-ray source properties during the past five years have greatly enhanced our understanding of the nature of SGRs. This talk will review recent observations focused on SGR pulse timing, pulse flux, pulse fraction, and pulse shape evolution results. The constraints these observations place on models for the SGRs and the insight into the physical mechanisms at work, particularly during/following bursts, will be discussed.
Monday, December 3rd 2001, 14:00 |