The first XMM-Newton observations of the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater SGR 1900+14

A ~50 ks XMM-Newton observation of SGR 1900+14 has been carried out in September 2005, after almost three years during which no bursts were detected from this soft gamma-ray repeater. The 0.8-10 keV spectrum was well fit by a power law plus blackbody model with photon index 1.9+/-0.1, temperature kT=0.47+/-0.02 keV and N_H = (2.12+/-0.08)x10^22 cm^-2, similar to previous observations of this source. The flux was ~5x10^{-12} erg/cm2/s, a factor 2 dimmer than the typical value and the smallest ever seen from SGR 1900+14. The long term fading of the persistent emission has been interrupted by the recent burst reactivation of the source. A target of opportunity XMM-Newton observation performed in April 2006 showed a flux ~15% higher. This variation was not accompanied by significant changes in the spectrum, pulsed fraction and light curve profile. We searched for emission and absorption lines in the spectra of the two observations, with negative results and setting tight upper limits of 50-200 eV (3 sigma), depending on the assumed line energy and width, on the equivalent width of lines in the 1-9 keV range.