Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar

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An Anomalous X-ray Pulsar.jpg

Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars (AXPs) are now widely believed to be Magnetars —young, isolated, highly magnetized Neutron Stars. These energtic X-ray pulsars are characterized by slow rotation periods of ~2–12 seconds and large magnetic fields of ~1013–1015 Gauss (1 to 100 Gigateslas). There are currently 9 known and 1 candidate AXPs. The identification of AXPs with magnetars was motivated by their similarity to another enigmatic class of sources, the Soft Gamma Repeaters.