A Comprehensive Study of the X-ray Bursts from the Magnetar Candidate 1E 2259+586

Abstract

We present a statistical analysis of the X‐ray bursts observed from the 2002 June 18 outburst of the Anomalous X‐ray Pulsar (AXP) 1E 2259+586, observed with the Proportional Counter Array aboard the Rossi X‐ray Timing Explorer. We show that the properties of these bursts are similar to those of Soft Gamma‐Repeaters (SGRs). The similarities we find are: the burst durations follow a log‐normal distribution which peaks at 99 ms, the differential burst fluence distribution is well described by a power law of index −1.7, the burst fluences are positively correlated with the burst durations, the distribution of waiting times is well described by a log‐normal distribution of mean 47 s, and the bursts are generally asymmetric with faster rise than fall times. However, we find several quantitative differences between the AXP and SGR bursts. Specifically, there is a correlation of burst phase with pulsed intensity, the AXP bursts we observed exhibit a wider range of durations, the correlation between burst fluence ...