The long-term radiative evolution of anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 2259+586 after its 2002 outburst

We present an analysis of five XMM-Newton observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 2259+586 taken in 2004 and 2005 during its relaxation following its 2002 outburst. We compare these data with those of five previous XMM-Newton observations taken in 2002 and 2003, and find the observed flux decay is well described by a power law of index -0.69 +/- 0.03. As of mid-2005, the source may still have been brighter than preoutburst, and was certainly hotter. We find a strong correlation between hardness and flux, as seen in other AXPs. We discuss the implications of these results for the magnetar model.