A Further Outburst from the Magnetar 1E 1048.1-5937
ATel #11241; R. F. Archibald (University of Toronto), P. Scholz (DRAO), and V. Kaspi (McGill)
on 29 Jan 2018; 19:35 UT
Credential Certification: Robert Archibald (rarchiba@physics.mcgill.ca)
Subjects: X-ray, Neutron Star, Pulsar, Magnetar
Referred to by ATel #: 11327
We report an increase in the X-ray flux from the magnetar 1E 1048.1-5937 in our recent monitoring observation with the X-ray Telescope (XRT) on the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. We measure an absorbed 0.5-10 keV flux of (22+/-2)x10^-12 erg/s/cm^2 on 15 January 2018 (MJD 58133), and confirmed the persistent nature of this increase measuring a flux of (20+/-1)x10^-12 erg/s/cm^2 on subsequent observations on 26-27 January 2018 (MJD 58144-58145) compared to an average flux of (9.2+/-0.5)x10^-12 erg/s/cm^2 in December 2017. As the source is currently in a state of high and varying torque (see Archibald et al. 2015), we cannot at this time place a limit on any change in the timing properties. The 0.5-10 keV pulse profile shows no significant deviation from the quiescent profile, and we detect no significant bursts at a 100-ms timescale in any of these observations. This new outburst epoch has occurred before a full radiative recovery from the last outburst which started in July 2016 (ATEL #9316). Observations at other wavelengths are encouraged.
