GECAM Observations of the Galactic Magnetar SGR J1935+2154 during the 2021 and 2022 Burst Active Episodes. I. Burst Catalog

Abstract

Magnetars are neutron stars with ultrahigh magnetic fields (~10 ^14 –10 ^15 G). The magnetar SGR J1935+2154 is not only one of the most active magnetars detected so far, but also the unique confirmed source of fast radio bursts. The Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) is dedicated to monitor gamma-ray transients all over the sky, including magnetar short bursts. Here we report the GECAM observations of the burst activity of SGR J1935+2154 from 2021 January to 2022 December, which results in a unique and valuable data set for this important magnetar. With a targeted search of GECAM data, 159 bursts from SGR J1935+2154 are detected by GECAM-B while 97 bursts are detected by GECAM-C, including the X-ray burst associated with a bright radio burst. We find that both the burst duration and the waiting time between two successive bursts follow lognormal distributions. The period of burst activity is 134 ± 20 days, thus the burst activity could be generally divided into four active episodes over these two years. Interestingly, the hardness ratio of X-ray bursts tends to be softer during these two years, especially during the active episode with radio bursts detected.

Keywords

• Magnetars
• Neutron stars
• Soft gamma-ray repeaters