Long-term monitoring of SGR 1806-20: the start of a new cyclequestionMark

In late 2003 SGR180620 gradually entered an active phase displaying an increasein both the burst rate and persistent emission, and culminating on December 2004with the most powerful giant flare ever observed from a soft gammaray repeater.The event was followed by a gradual recovery of a flux level close to thepreflare values. The latest XMMNewton observation (September 2006) showed thatthe decreasing luminosity trend has been interrupted, possibly in connectionwith the recent onset of a new period of intense bursting activity. Presently itis not clear if the rebrightening is an oscillation around an equilibriumluminosity level, or the start of a new cycle of increasing activity. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]