Hubble Space Telescope Observations of SGR 0526−66: New Constraints on Accretion and Magnetar Models

Abstract

Soft γ-ray repeaters (SGRs) are among the most enigmatic sources known today. Exhibiting huge X-ray and γ-ray bursts and flares, as well as soft quiescent X-ray emission, their energy source remains a mystery. Just as mysterious are the anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs), which share many of the same characteristics. Thanks to recent Chandra X-Ray Observatory observations, SGR 0526-66, the first SGR, now appears to be a transition object bridging the two classes, and therefore observations of it have implications for both SGRs and AXPs. The two most popular current models for their persistent emission are accretion of a fossil disk and decay of an enormous (~1015 G) magnetic field in a magnetar. We show how deep optical observations of SGR 0526-66, the only SGR with small enough optical extinction for meaningful observations, show no evidence of an optical counterpart. These observation place strong new constraints on both accretion disk and magnetar models and suggest that the spectral energy distribution may peak in the hard UV. Almost all accretion disks are excluded by the optical data, and a magnetar would require a ~1015-1016 G field.