The proper motion of PSR J1550-5418 measured with VLBI: a second magnetar velocity measurement

Abstract: The formation mechanism of neutron stars with extremely large magnetic field strengths (magnetars) remains unclear. Some formation scenarios predict that magnetars should be born with extremely high space velocities, >1000 km/s. Using the Long Baseline Array in Australia, we have measured the proper motion of the intermittently radio-bright magnetar J1550-5418 (1E 1547.0-5408) to be 9.2 +/- 0.6 mas/yr. For a likely distance of 6 +/- 2 kpc, the implied transverse velocity is 280 + 130 - 120 km/s after correcting for Galactic rotation. Along with the ~200 km/s transverse velocity measured for the magnetar XTE J1810-197, this result suggests that formation pathways producing large magnetic fields do not require very large birth kicks.