Magnetars: Kinematics, ages and birth places

Magnetars are highly magnetized young pulsars that manifest as Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs). Despite the success of the magnetar model in explaining these phenomena, many basic questions are yet unanswered: We do not know what natal conditions create a magnetar as compared to an ordinary pulsar or where magnetars lie in the large and diverse family of neutron stars. The mechanisms of spin down and emission are not very clearly understood. Using the 10-m Keck telescopes, we measured the proper motions of five magnetars to a milli-arcsecond per year precision (thus tripling the known sample). For the first time, the direction and magnitude of the proper motion allow us to identify birth places of magnetars and estimate kinematic ages giving us clues on the magnetars birth and evolution. I shall discuss our high-precision astrometry framework and the new results from our study with a broader picture of the magnetar field.