Large X-ray Burst from Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61
ATel #993; F. P. Gavriil (NASA/GSFC), R. Dib, V. M. Kaspi (McGill U.), P. M. Woods (Dynetics)
on 8 Feb 2007; 02:35 UT
Credential Certification: Victoria Kaspi (vkaspi@physics.mcgill.ca)
Subjects: Radio, Infra-Red, Optical, X-ray, Request for Observations, Neutron Star, Soft Gamma-ray Repeater, Transient, Pulsar
Referred to by ATel #: 998
At approximately 10:04:19 UTC on 7 February 2007 (MJD 54138.42), the
Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61 exhibited a large fast-rise X-ray
burst, followed by a lengthy tail, during routine RXTE/PCA monitoring
observations. On a 31-ms time scale, the count rate at the burst
peak was approximately 3600 counts/s for 2 operational PCUs, in the 2-60 keV
range, which corresponds roughly to a peak flux of ~4x10^-8 erg/s/cm^2. The
burst was followed by an extended tail that lasted 20-30 mins upon which were
superimposed, for approximately the first minute, bright single pulses at the
nominal pulse period. Further details will be provided as available. Observations
at all wavelengths, particularly optical, near and mid-infrared are encouraged.
