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A new study reveals a brand new type of star that could be key to understanding the formation of magnetars, a bizarre and perplexing celestial phenomenon.
A new study reveals a brand new type of star that could be key to understanding the formation of magnetars, a bizarre and perplexing celestial phenomenon.
A new study reveals a brand new type of star that could be key to understanding the formation of magnetars, a bizarre and perplexing celestial phenomenon.
Astronomers have identified the fastest ever spinning magnetar. Located about 21,000 light-years away from Earth is a magnetar called J1818.0-1607 and it is definitely unique and special. First, let’s talk about magnetars. They are a unique type of neutron star – a very dense object that is made up of mostly tightly packed neutrons and is created from the collapsed core of a once-gigantic star that went supernova. The difference between a magnetar and a normal neutron star is that it has an exceptionally strong magnetic field (the strongest in the entire universe) and can explode without ...
Back in June we brought you news that scientists at NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, ESA’s XMM-Newton observatory, NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), and several ground-based telescopes had discovered one of these magnetized neutron stars in the constellation Sagittarius, just 16,000 light years away from Earth. Credit: NASA/CXC/Univ. of West Virginia/H. Blumer Being only 500 years old in Earth time, it was the youngest neutron star ever spotted, and also the youngest magnetar ever found. The dizzying baby dynamo, spinning 1.4 times per second, pro...