Magnetar-like X-Ray Bursts Suppress Pulsar Radio Emission

• Published in: Astrophysical journal. Letters 2017-11, Vol.849 (2), p.L20
• Main Authors: Archibald, R. F., Burgay, M., Lyutikov, M., Kaspi, V. M., Esposito, P., Israel, G., Kerr, M., Possenti, A., Rea, N., Sarkissian, J., Scholz, P., Tendulkar, S. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceleration; ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Bursts; Gamma rays; Magnetars; Magnetic fields; Neutron stars; Pulsars; pulsars: general; pulsars: individual (PSR J1119-6127); Radio emission; Radio telescopes; stars: magnetars; Stellar magnetic fields; Stellar rotation; X-ray bursts; XMM (spacecraft)
• ISSN: 2041-8205; 2041-8213; 2041-8213
• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aa9371

Rotation-powered pulsars and magnetars are two different observational manifestations of neutron stars: rotation-powered pulsars are rapidly spinning objects that are mostly observed as pulsating radio sources, while magnetars, neutron stars with the highest known magnetic fields, often emit short-duration X-ray bursts. Here, we report simultaneous observations of the high-magnetic-field radio pulsar PSR J1119−6127 at X-ray, with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR, and at radio energies with the Parkes radio telescope, during a period of magnetar-like bursts. The rotationally powered radio emission shuts off coincident with the occurrence of multiple X-ray bursts and recovers on a timescale of ∼70 s. These observations of related radio and X-ray phenomena further solidify the connection between radio pulsars and magnetars and suggest that the pair plasma produced in bursts can disrupt the acceleration mechanism of radio-emitting particles.