# ASCA Discovery of an X-ray Pulsar in the Error Box of SGR1900+14

## 1 Introduction

Four soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) are now known to exist with certainty, and there is good evidence that all of them are associated with supernova remnants (SNRs). The position of SGR0525-66 is consistent with that of the N49 supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud (Cline et al. 1982). SGR1806-20 (Atteia et al. 1987) is associated with the SNR G10.0-0.3, located towards the galactic center (Kulkarni & Frail 1993; Kouveliotou et al. 1994; Kulkarni et al. 1994; Murakami et al. 1994). SGR1627-41 may be associated with G337.0-0.1 (Woods et al., 1998; Hurley et al. 1998a,b). SGR1900+14 lies close to G42.8+0.6 (Kouveliotou et al. 1994; Hurley et al. 1998c). Three of the four are quiescent soft X-ray point sources: SGR0525-66 (Rothschild, Kulkarni, & Lingenfelter 1994), SGR1806-20 (Murakami et al. 1994), and SGR1900+14 (Hurley et al. 1994, 1998c). Finally two of the SGRs, 0525-66 (Mazets et al. 1979, Barat et al. 1979) and 1900+14 (Hurley et al. 1998d) display periodicities in their bursting emission, and one, 1806-20 (Kouveliotou et al. 1998a) in its quiescent emission, indicating that they are neutron stars.

In this paper we present soft X-ray observations of the quiescent X-ray source associated with SGR1900+14 by the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) which indicate that it, too displays a periodicity in its quiescent emission. Furthermore, its X-ray spectrum is similar to that of SGR1806-20. In another paper (Hurley et al. 1998c) we present evidence, based on burst localization by the interplanetary network, that this X-ray source is indeed associated with the SGR. Thus SGR1900+14 is similar to the other SGRs in many respects, pointing towards a unified model for these sources.

Kouveliotou et al. (1994) suggested that SGR1900+14 might be associated with one of two SNRs, G43.9+1.6 or G42.8+0.6. Both the ROSAT sky survey (Vasisht et al. 1994) and a pointed observation at the position of G42.8+0.6 (Hurley et al. 1996) indicated that a point-like quiescent X-ray source was present near this SNR. This source was also associated with one of the two network synthesis error boxes for this SGR (Hurley et al. 1994). No ROSAT source was detected in the second network synthesis error box (Li et al. 1997), and the more recent localization for SGR1900+14 (Hurley et al. 1998c) indicates that the first error box is indeed the one which contains the SGR and the quiescent X-ray source. Optical and infrared observations of the X-ray position revealed a peculiar double M star system within the X-ray source error box (Vrba et al. 1996). A rough estimate of the probability of finding a random X-ray source of any intensity in the error box for this SGR may be obtained from the statistics of the WGA catalog (White, Giommi, and Angelini 1995). There are $`10,000`$ sources located at galactic latitudes $`|\mathrm{b}|<20^\mathrm{o}`$, or $`1.12\mathrm{x10}^3`$ sources/ sq. arcmin., and the error box area is $``$ 1.6 sq. arcmin. (Hurley et al. 1998c). Thus the probability is $``$ 0.0018. This estimate makes no correction for the sky exposure as a function of galactic latitude, and encompasses the widely varying sensitivities of the ROSAT pointed observations in the public domain (typical observation times 5000 - 30,000 s). However, as we show below, due to the fact that the period of the quiescent source is identical to that found in the giant flare of 1998 August 27 (Hurley et al. 1998d), the association between the SGR and the X-ray source does not depend strongly on this probability.

## 2 ASCA Observations

The position of the quiescent X-ray point source associated with SGR1900+14, $`\alpha (2000)=19^\mathrm{h}07^\mathrm{m}14^\mathrm{s},\delta (2000)=9^\mathrm{o}19\mathrm{}19\mathrm{}`$, was known from previous ROSAT observations (Hurley et al. 1994). ASCA was pointed to within $`0.1^\mathrm{o}`$ of this position on 1998 April 30. (An earlier attempt at an observation on 1997 October 22 was incorrectly pointed). The observation began around 20:55 UT and lasted 2.3 days, resulting in 74 ksec of on-source exposure with the Solid State Imaging Spectrometer (SIS), and 84.6 ksec with the Gas Imaging Spectrometer (GIS). We used the standard screening criteria for such parameters as Earth elevation angle, South Atlantic Anomaly, and cutoff rigidity to extract photons. These are described in the ASCA Data Reduction Guide, Version 2 <sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1available on-line at http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/asca/abc/abc.html. No bursts from the source were observed by Ulysses , BATSE, KONUS, or ASCA during the observation. One quiescent source was detected, at $`\alpha (2000)=19^\mathrm{h}07^\mathrm{m}16.4^\mathrm{s},\delta (2000)=+09^\mathrm{o}19\mathrm{}44.1\mathrm{}`$ with an error radius 40 $`\mathrm{}`$, consistent with the position of the ROSAT source. The source location was determined with the Ximage source detection tool, which uses a sliding window technique.

The region used for spectral analysis consisted of a 6 $`\mathrm{}`$ radius circle centered at the source position; background was taken from the same observation, using a 6 $`\mathrm{}`$ radius circle at a region where no source was present, as determined by the same sliding window technique. Spectral fitting was done using XSPEC and three trial functions: blackbody, thermal bremsstrahlung, and a power law, all with absorption. Using GIS2 and GIS3 data, a power law gave the best fit, with a reduced $`\chi ^2`$ of 1.48 for 182 degrees of freedom. The best reduced $`\chi ^2`$ for the blackbody fit was 4.38, and that for the bremsstrahlung was 2.04. We therefore adopt the power law fit; the best fit photon power law index was 2.25 $`\pm `$ 0.04, and the absorption was $`\mathrm{n}_\mathrm{H}=(2.16\pm 0.07)\mathrm{x10}^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. This corresponds to an unabsorbed 2 - 10 keV flux of $`(9.6\pm 0.7)\mathrm{x10}^{12}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$. The fit is shown in figure 1.

Previously, the distance to SGR1900+14 had been estimated as 5 kpc using the $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$-D relation (e.g. Vasisht et al. 1994). The measurement of n<sub>H</sub> now permits an independent estimate. Using the W3nH tool available on-line from the HEASARC <sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/frames/mb\_w3browse.html we obtain $``$5.7 kpc. Both methods are subject to uncertainties; in what follows, we adopt a distance of 5 kpc.

To search for periodicity, light curves were constructed with 0.5 s binning from the sum of the GIS2 and GIS3 data, by extracting $``$ 1 - 10 keV counts from a 4 $`\mathrm{}`$ radius circular region around the source. The power spectrum is shown in figure 2. A significant barycenter-corrected period was found at 5.1589715 $`\pm `$ 0.0000008 s. The distribution of powers closely follows a $`\chi ^2`$ distribution with two degrees of freedom . Taking into account the number of frequencies searched, the chance probability of finding a peak this strong or stronger in the power spectrum may be estimated at $`4.7\mathrm{x10}^{14}`$, a conservative number which does not take the presence of the harmonics into account. A folded light curve is shown in figure 3. This period agrees well with that found for the SGR in outburst on 1998 August 27 (Hurley et al. 1998d), making the identification of the quiescent source and the SGR quite secure.

## 3 Discussion and Conclusion

The ASCA observations of SGR1900+14 may be used to estimate the magnetic field of the neutron star in two ways. First, we can use the association between the quiescent X-ray source and G42.8+0.6. The observable lifetime of SNRs is less than $``$ 20,000 years (Braun, Goss, and Lyne 1989). The characteristic age $`\tau `$ of a rotating, magnetized neutron star is related to the period P and its derivative $`\dot{P}`$ by $`\tau =P/2\dot{P}`$, while P and $`\dot{P}`$ are related to the field strength B by P$`\dot{P}`$=AB<sup>2</sup>, where A=9.8x10<sup>-40</sup> s G<sup>-2</sup> (e.g. Lyne, Manchester, and Taylor 1985). Thus $`B=\sqrt{P^2/2A\tau }`$. For SGR1900+14, we obtain B=2x10<sup>14</sup>G for an age of 10<sup>4</sup> y, remarkably similar to estimates made from the energy contained in the soft tail of the giant flare of 1998 August 27 (Hurley et al. 1998d) and from direct measurement of $`\dot{P}`$ (Kouveliotou et al. 1998b). It is also comparable to the field strength of SGR1806-20, estimated from direct measurements of P and $`\dot{P}`$ for that source (Kouveliotou et al. 1998a). This suggests that SGR behavior can be described by the magnetar model (Thompson and Duncan 1995). If this is the case, a second estimate of B comes from one of the predictions of that model, namely that persistent soft X-ray emission is powered by crustal magnetic energy: $`\frac{B_{crust}^2}{8\pi }4\pi R_{}^2\mathrm{\Delta }RL_x\tau `$, where R is the radius of the neutron star (10 km), $`\mathrm{\Delta }R`$ is the thickness of the crust ($``$ 1 km), and we take L<sub>x</sub>=2.7x10<sup>34</sup> erg s<sup>-1</sup> for a distance of 5 kpc and $`\tau `$=10,000 y. We obtain $`B_{crust}4x10^{14}G`$. The two estimates would agree (B $``$ 2.5x10<sup>14</sup> G) for an age $`\tau 7100`$y, or about 70% of the lifetime of a typical magnetar, in the model.

Table 1 compares the properties of the three SGRs and their soft X-ray counterparts. The X-ray spectrum of SGR0525 is unknown. However, the spectra of SGR1806 and SGR1900 have identical power law indices; their 2 - 10 keV luminosities agree to within an order of magnitude when their estimated distances are taken into account. The periods of all three sources agree to within a factor of $`1.6`$. The four known SGRs therefore share many similarities – in their periods, the properties of their quiescent soft X-ray sources, their ages, their magnetic fields, and their associations with supernova remnants. This provides further evidence that, as a class, the SGRs are strongly magnetized young neutron stars whose behavior can be described by the magnetar model of Thompson and Duncan (1995).

KH and PL are grateful to NASA for support under the ASCA AO-6 Guest Investigator Program. CK acknowledges support under the CGRO guest investigator program (NAG 5-2560). We are also grateful to Dr. K. Mitsuda who kindly provided his computer code to confirm the period.