Studies of neutron stars at optical/IR wavelengths
Motch, C.; Rea, N.; De Luca, A.; Israel, G. L.; Mignani, R. P.; Zane, S.; Lo Curto, G.; Turolla, R.; Perna, R.; Bagnulo, S.
United Kingdom, Chile, Italy, France, United States, Netherlands
Abstract
In the last years, optical studies of Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) have expanded from the more classical rotation-powered ones to other categories, like the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs), which make up the class of the magnetars, the radio-quiet INSs with X-ray thermal emission and, more recently, the enigmatic Compact Central Objects (CCOs) in supernova remnants. Apart from 10 rotation-powered pulsars, so far optical/IR counterparts have been found for 5 magnetars and for 4 INSs. In this work we present some of the latest observational results obtained from optical/IR observations of different types of INSs.