{"id":2353,"date":"2026-10-11T02:46:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T23:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/?p=2353"},"modified":"2026-10-11T02:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T23:49:24","slug":"magnetars-are-neutron-stars-with-the-strongest-magnetic-fields-what-is-known-about-them-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/2026\/10\/11\/magnetars-are-neutron-stars-with-the-strongest-magnetic-fields-what-is-known-about-them-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Magnetars are neutron stars with the strongest magnetic fields. What is known about them today?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Magnetars are a special class of neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields, the strongest of any object in the observable universe, approximately a trillion times stronger than the most powerful permanent magnets ever created on Earth. Neutron stars are the remnant cores of massive stars formed at the end of their lives, possessing a mass greater than the Sun and compressed to the size of a city, making them natural laboratories for studying extreme physical phenomena. Magnetars, as previously thought, can come in different types. One possibility is an exploding object orbiting a black hole surrounded by a disk of material. Another possibility is a pair of rotating neutron stars whose magnetospheres periodically interact, creating a cavity where eruptions can occur. Magnetars are estimated to be active for about 10,000 years before settling down, so they could be found where a firestorm of star formation is occurring. However, this does not seem to be the case for all magnetars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">Scientists using NASA&#8217;s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) telescope conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E 1547-5408 between March and April 2025, in conjunction with NASA&#8217;s Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope and the Murriyang radio telescope, owned and operated by Commonwealth Science Institute (CSIRO) in Parkes. This was the first-ever coordinated measurement of the polarization of a magnetar&#8217;s radio and X-ray emissions.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">1E 1547-5408, which rotates a full rotation every 2 seconds, is a unique magnetar that continually emits bright radio energy and X-rays for reasons scientists are still trying to understand, NASA said in a press release in August 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Observations revealed that polarization, or the orientation and degree of alignment of incoming photons, is nearly three times higher than in similar sources. This high level of polarization was unexpected, as the geometry of the magnetar&#8217;s magnetic fields suggests that the observed values \u200b\u200bshould be close to zero at certain points on the star. Standard models of surface radiation also fail to explain this high value, suggesting that another effect must be enhancing the polarization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">This is where vacuum birefringence comes in\u2014a theory that has existed for 90 years in the field of quantum electrodynamics. First proposed in 1936, this theory suggests that the vacuum of space can be modified by extreme magnetic fields, much stronger than those humans can generate on Earth. Under such conditions, the vacuum acts like a lens or prism, filtering light depending on its direction of propagation, thereby enhancing its overall polarization. The IXPE mission&#8217;s ability to measure the polarization of X-rays was essential to testing this theory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4632\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209262.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1284px) 100vw, 1284px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209262.jpg 1284w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209262-300x257.jpg 300w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209262-1024x877.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209262-768x658.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1284\" height=\"1100\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">This artist&#8217;s concept depicts the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408, a rapidly rotating neutron star with magnetic fields more than a trillion times stronger than Earth&#8217;s. The blue curves emanating from the star&#8217;s two magnetic poles represent magnetic field lines. The magnetar is a significant source of radio and X-ray emission, with peaks offset from the rotation axis by 2.1 seconds. This indicates that the primary X-ray source is a secondary &#8220;hot spot&#8221; offset from the magnetic axis. These emission sources are depicted as conic sections: the lighter blue peak of the radio emission is on the magnetic field symmetry axis, and the darker blue peak of the X-ray emission is below. The upper and lower emission cones indicate X-ray polarization degrees of 40% and 80%, respectively. These high values, along with smooth, coherent polarization changes over the rotation period, provide the most precise signal to date of vacuum birefringence\u2014a long-sought prediction of quantum electrodynamics. NASA\/Pablo Garcia<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Simulations conducted by the research team support the possibility that the characteristic signal is due to vacuum birefringence. Hoa Dinh Thi, a postdoctoral researcher at Rice University in Houston and co-author of the publication describing the results, said: &#8220;Our model suggests that vacuum birefringence in the neutron star&#8217;s environment is necessary to reproduce the observed X-ray polarization signals and meet the constraints set by radio observations. This discovery demonstrates how neutron stars allow us to probe fundamental physical phenomena under conditions unachievable in Earth-based laboratories.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Large polarization measurements obtained with a magnetar strongly support the theoretical prediction and may be the first time this effect has been directly observed anywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Further observations of this source and other magnetars with IXPE will confirm this signal and possibly reveal other exotic quantum electrodynamic effects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The IXPE mission, which continues to provide unprecedented data that enables groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects in the universe, is a joint mission of NASA and the Italian Space Agency, with partners and scientists from 12 countries. It is managed by NASA&#8217;s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations in conjunction with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. Learn more about the current IXPE mission here:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">Researchers using NASA&#8217;s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a magnetar named SGR 0501+4516, moving through our galaxy from an unknown origin. Scientists claim that this runaway magnetar is the most likely candidate in our Milky Way galaxy for a magnetar that did not form in a supernova explosion, as originally thought. This is so unusual that it may even provide clues to the mechanism of events known as fast radio bursts.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Magnetars are neutron stars, the remnants of dead stars, composed entirely of neutrons. Magnetars are unique in their extremely strong magnetic fields,&#8221; said Ashley Chrimes, lead author of the paper on the discovery, published April 15 in the journal Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics. Chrimes is a research fellow at the European Space Agency&#8217;s European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">A magnetar&#8217;s magnetic field is approximately a trillion times more powerful than Earth&#8217;s magnetosphere. If a magnetar were to pass Earth at a distance half the distance of the moon, its powerful field would destroy all credit cards on our planet. If a human were to approach within 600 miles, the magnetar would transform into the proverbial sci-fi death ray, ripping apart every atom within the human body, according to the European Space Agency&#8217;s press service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The magnetar&#8217;s oddities were revealed using sensitive instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as precise data obtained by the European Space Agency&#8217;s (ESA) Gaia spacecraft.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The enigmatic magnetar was first discovered in 2008 when NASA&#8217;s Swift Observatory detected short, intense gamma-ray bursts on the outskirts of the Milky Way. The source, one of approximately 30 known magnetars in the Milky Way, was named SGR 0501+4516.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Since magnetars are neutron stars, a natural explanation for their formation is that they are born in supernovae, when a star explodes and can collapse, turning into a superdense neutron star. This appears to be the case for SGR 0501+4516, located near the supernova remnant HB9. The distance between the magnetar and the center of the supernova remnant on the sky is only 80 arcminutes, or slightly larger than your pinky finger when viewed at arm&#8217;s length.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4633\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar120926.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar120926.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar120926-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar120926-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar120926-768x432.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1536\" height=\"864\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">This artist&#8217;s impression of a magnetar\u2014a special type of neutron star with an incredibly strong magnetic field. Neutron stars are among the most compact and extreme objects in the Universe. Typically, these stars contain more mass than the Sun in a sphere of neutrons about 12 miles in diameter. The neutron star is depicted as a bluish-white sphere. The magnetic field is shown as filaments radiating from its polar regions. Illustration: ESA<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">However, a decade-long study with the Hubble Space Telescope has cast doubt on the magnetar&#8217;s birthplace. Following initial observations with ground-based telescopes shortly after the discovery of SGR 0501+4516, researchers used Hubble&#8217;s exceptional sensitivity and stable pointing to detect the magnetar&#8217;s faint infrared glow in 2010, 2012, and 2020. Each of these images was aligned with the coordinate system determined by observations by the Gaia spacecraft, which has created an extremely precise 3D map of nearly two billion stars in the Milky Way. This method revealed the magnetar&#8217;s subtle motion as it moved across the sky.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;All these motions we measure are smaller than a single pixel in the Hubble image,&#8221; said study co-author Joe Lyman of the University of Warwick in the UK. &#8220;Being able to reliably make these measurements really demonstrates Hubble&#8217;s long-term stability.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">By tracking the magnetar&#8217;s position, the team was able to measure the object&#8217;s apparent motion across the sky. Both the speed and direction of SGR 0501+4516&#8217;s motion indicated that the magnetar could not be associated with a nearby supernova remnant. Tracing the magnetar&#8217;s trajectory over thousands of years revealed that there were no other supernova remnants or massive star clusters with which it could be linked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">If SGR 0501+4516 did not form in a supernova, the magnetar must either be older than its estimated age of 20,000 years or form through another means. Magnetars can also form through the merger of two lower-mass neutron stars or through a process called accretion-induced collapse. Accretion-induced collapse requires a binary star system containing a white dwarf: the core of a dead star similar to the Sun. If the white dwarf attracts gas from its companion, it may become too massive to support itself, leading to an explosion\u2014or possibly the formation of a magnetar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Usually, such a scenario would trigger nuclear reactions and cause the white dwarf to explode, leaving nothing behind. But there&#8217;s a theory that, under certain conditions, a white dwarf could instead collapse into a neutron star. We believe this is how SGR 0501 could have been born,&#8221; added Andrew Levan of Radboud University in the Netherlands and the University of Warwick in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Currently, SGR 0501+4516 is the best candidate for a magnetar in our galaxy, possibly formed through a merger or accretion-induced collapse. Magnetars formed through accretion-induced collapse could explain some of the mysterious fast radio bursts (FRBs), which are short but powerful bursts of radio waves. Specifically, this scenario could explain the origin of FRBs occurring in stellar populations too ancient to have recently produced stars massive enough to explode as supernovas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;The rate of magnetar production and the scenarios for their formation are among the most pressing questions in high-energy astrophysics, with implications for many of the most powerful transient phenomena in the Universe, such as gamma-ray bursts, ultraluminous supernovae, and fast radio bursts,&#8221; said Nanda Rea of \u200b\u200bthe Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bSpain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The research team plans to conduct further observations with the Hubble Space Telescope to study the origins of other magnetars in the Milky Way and understand how these extremely magnetic objects form.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for more than three decades and continues to make groundbreaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is an international collaboration between NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency). NASA&#8217;s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also provides mission operations support at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">FRB 20220610A was first detected on June 10, 2022, by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope in Western Australia. The European Southern Observatory&#8217;s Very Large Telescope in Chile confirmed that the FRB originated from a distant location. The FRB&#8217;s energy was four times higher than that of nearby FRBs.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">It&#8217;s called a fast radio burst (FRB)\u2014a fleeting burst of energy that can, for a few milliseconds, outshine an entire galaxy. Hundreds of FRBs have been discovered in the past few years. They flash across the sky like camera flashes at a stadium, but the sources of these intense bursts of radiation remain unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">This new fast radio burst was particularly unusual because it occurred on the other side of the universe. Judging by subsequent Hubble observations made after its discovery, the situation became even stranger. The fast radio burst occurred in a seemingly unlikely location: a cluster of galaxies that existed when the universe was only 5 billion years old. The vast majority of previous fast radio bursts have been detected in isolated galaxies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Precisely pinpointing the source of the fast radio burst required the exceptional precision and sensitivity of the Hubble Space Telescope,&#8221; said lead study author Alexa Gordon of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. &#8220;Without Hubble&#8217;s images, it would have remained a mystery whether it originated from a single, monolithic galaxy or from some interacting system. It&#8217;s precisely these unusual conditions that drive us to better understand the mystery of fast radio bursts.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4634\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209261.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209261.jpg 900w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209261-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar1209261-768x566.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"663\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">A Hubble Space Telescope image of the host galaxy of the exceptionally powerful fast radio burst FRB 20220610A. Hubble&#8217;s sensitivity and sharpness reveal a compact group of several galaxies, possibly in the process of merging. They existed when the universe was just five years old. NASA, ESA, STScI, Alexa Gordon (Northwestern University)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The Hubble Space Telescope&#8217;s sharp images suggest that this fast radio burst originated in an environment that could contain up to seven galaxies on a possible merger path, which would also be of significant importance, the researchers say.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Ultimately, we&#8217;re trying to answer the questions: What causes them? What are their precursors? What is their origin? Hubble observations provide a spectacular opportunity to see the fascinating environments that give rise to these mysterious phenomena,&#8221; said study co-author Wen-fai Fong, also of Northwestern University.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Although astronomers have not reached a consensus on the possible mechanism for this extraordinary phenomenon, it is generally believed that fast radio bursts (FRBs) must be associated with some kind of compact object, such as a black hole or neutron star. One extreme type of neutron star is called a magnetar\u2014the most highly magnetic type of neutron star in the universe. Its magnetic field is so strong that if a magnetar were located halfway between the Earth and the Moon, it would erase the magnetic stripe from every credit card in the world. Worse, if an astronaut were to pass within a few hundred miles of a magnetar, they would effectively dissolve, as every atom in their body would be destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Possible mechanisms include a kind of violent starquake or, alternatively, an explosion caused by the rupture and reconnection of the magnetar&#8217;s twisted magnetic field lines. A similar phenomenon occurs on the Sun, causing solar flares, but the magnetar&#8217;s field is a trillion times stronger than the Sun&#8217;s magnetosphere. This rupture could trigger a fast radio burst (FRB) or create a shock wave that would incinerate surrounding dust and heat the gas into plasma.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Magnetars come in many forms. One could be an exploding object orbiting a black hole surrounded by a disk of material. Another possibility is a pair of rotating neutron stars whose magnetospheres periodically interact, creating a cavity where eruptions can occur. Magnetars are estimated to be active for about 10,000 years before settling down, so they could be found where a firestorm of star formation is occurring. However, this doesn&#8217;t seem to be the case for all magnetars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">In the near future, the sensitivity of fast radio burst (FRB) detection experiments will increase, leading to an unprecedented increase in the number of FRBs detected at such distances. The Hubble Space Telescope will play a crucial role in studying the conditions under which these FRBs occur. Astronomers will soon discover just how unique the environment was in which this particular FRB burst occurred.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">Astronomers have detected a highly magnetic dead star, or &#8220;magnetar,&#8221; in the Milky Way that briefly began to behave like a pulsar\u2014a type of neutron star that rapidly rotates on its axis. The magnetar assumed its pulsar appearance after emitting a powerful burst of radiation, first detected in 2020. While most FRBs have been attributed to sources outside the Milky Way, this one, designated FRB 20200428, originated within our galaxy, making it the first &#8220;galactic FRB&#8221; ever observed. FRB 20200428 has been associated with a highly magnetic neutron star, or &#8220;magnetar,&#8221; SGR J1935+2154, located about 30,000 light-years away and orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*).<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">This emission is an example of a fast radio burst (FRB)\u2014a mysterious burst of energy whose sources and origins remain poorly understood. This led many researchers to speculate that fast radio bursts detected outside the Milky Way also originate from magnetars. The problem was the lack of compelling evidence for this connection. Further studying SGR J1935+2154 in search of this &#8220;smoking gun,&#8221; an international team of researchers discovered that the magnetar behaves like a rapidly rotating neutron star, or &#8220;pulsar,&#8221; entering a brief &#8220;radio pulsar phase&#8221; five months after FRB 20200428&#8217;s activation. The team&#8217;s findings were published on July 28, 2024, in the journal Science Advances.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">To study this Milky Way magnetar, the team turned to the Five-hundred-meter Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China, which was the first to discover FRB 20200428. This massive radio telescope has a rich history of enabling researchers to search for FRBs.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Interestingly, the phase of the late pulsar SGR J1935+2154 was detected by the FAST telescope differently than the magnetar&#8217;s fast radio burst. This indicated to the team that these two phenomena have different origins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;FAST detected 795 pulses over 16.5 hours over 13 days from the source,&#8221; said team leader Weiwei Zhu of the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) in a statement. &#8220;These pulses exhibit observational properties different from those of FRBs observed from this source.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">This difference in the &#8220;emission modes&#8221; between fast radio bursts and pulses could help astronomers better understand what triggers fast radio bursts both within the Milky Way and across vast cosmological distances. It could also reveal more information about neutron stars in their various forms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Like all neutron stars, magnetars and pulsars are born when a star at least eight times more massive than the Sun reaches the limit of its nuclear fusion fuel supply. This stops the outflow of energy that sustains the star and counteracts its own compressive gravitational pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4635\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1neitronnaya1109262.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1neitronnaya1109262.jpg 970w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1neitronnaya1109262-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1neitronnaya1109262-768x432.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"970\" height=\"546\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">Illustration comparing a neutron star to Manhattan Island. NASA&#8217;s Goddard Space Flight Center.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Without this external radiation pressure, the star&#8217;s core collapses. This causes shock waves in the outer material, leading to a powerful supernova explosion. This catastrophic explosion ejects the star&#8217;s outer layers, leaving behind a rapidly collapsing stellar core with a mass one to two times that of the Sun. This results in the formation of a neutron star, and the reduction in its diameter becomes dramatic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Neutron stars are estimated to be about 12 miles (20 kilometers) in diameter, meaning they could easily be located within the boundaries of some major cities on Earth. However, the consequences would be far from pleasant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Neutron stars, containing twice the mass of the Sun and measuring as long as Manhattan Island, are composed of a unique form of incredibly dense matter rich in neutrons\u2014particles normally associated with protons in the nuclei of atoms. If a single sugar cube-sized sample of this matter were taken from a neutron star and returned to Earth, it would weigh a staggering 1 billion tons. This is more than twice the weight of the entire human race, which is estimated to be 390 million tons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">However, this is not the only extreme characteristic of a neutron star.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Due to the law of conservation of angular momentum, as the diameter of a newborn neutron star rapidly decreases, its rotation speed increases significantly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">A very grounded example of this can be seen in figure skating. When a skater wants to increase the speed of their rotation, they pull their arms in toward their body. To slow down, they extend their arms outward again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Pulsars are neutron stars that can rotate so rapidly that they complete hundreds of revolutions per second. In fact, the fastest-spinning pulsar ever discovered is PSR J1748\u22122446ad, which rotates 716 times per second. The pulsar also emits beams of radiation from its poles. This means that as it rotates, this type of neutron star broadcasts beams of radiation throughout the universe, like a cosmic lighthouse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The shrinking width of neutron stars also brings the magnetic field lines of the progenitor star closer together. The closer the magnetic field lines are to each other, the stronger they become. This means that neutron stars have the most powerful magnetic fields in the universe, some reaching over 1 billion Tesla. For comparison, the most powerful magnetic fields generated here on Earth are around 1,500 Tesla. Neutron stars with the most powerful magnetic fields are called magnetars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">To be clear, all magnetars are neutron stars, and all pulsars are neutron stars, but magnetars differ from pulsars in that they typically lack the beams of radio waves emanating from their poles that create the appearance of pulsation. However, magnetars are not completely radiation-free; they have long been known as sources of fast radio bursts (FRBs).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4636\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar110326.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar110326.jpg 600w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1magnetar110326-300x169.jpg 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">An artist&#8217;s impression of a magnetar emitting a burst of X-rays and radio waves across the galaxy. ESA<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Radio pulses similar to those detected by the team during the late phase of the pulsar SGR J1935+2154 are similar to fast radio bursts (FRBs), but the latter are tens of billions of times brighter. They are also characteristic of pulsars, as mentioned above, but are less common in magnetars. Most magnetars do not emit radio pulses, possibly because their intense magnetic fields prevent them from doing so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Despite this, some magnetars can briefly transform into pulsars after a period of outburst activity. This is likely what Zhang and his team observed in SGR J1935+2154.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Similar to pulses in radio pulsars, magnetar pulses are emitted in a narrow phase window during a period,&#8221; Zhang explained. &#8220;This is a well-known &#8216;lighthouse&#8217; effect, meaning the radiation beam passes through the line of sight once per period and only for a short period of time in each period. Then, pulsed radio emission can be observed.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">When FRB 20200428 was discovered from the same magnetar in April 2020, this FRB and several less energetic bursts that followed it were random. This means they were not within the precise frequency window of the pulsar SGR J1935+2154.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;This strongly suggests that the pulses and flares originate in different locations within the magnetar&#8217;s magnetosphere, suggesting possible different emission mechanisms between the pulses and flares,&#8221; Zhang continued.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">One possible outcome of this study and subsequent work is a better understanding of why some FRBs repeat and most do not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">FAST detected thousands of repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) from the same sources, likely magnetars. However, unlike pulsar pulses, these repeating FRBs lack a clear pattern or &#8220;periodicity.&#8221; This casts doubt on the idea that FRBs originate from magnetars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Our discovery that the bursts are typically generated at random phases provides a natural explanation for why periodicity cannot be detected in repeating fast radio bursts,&#8221; Zhang concluded. &#8220;For unknown reasons, the bursts are typically emitted in all directions from the magnetar, making it impossible to determine the periodicity of fast radio burst sources.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/go\/56\"  class=\"su-button su-button-style-flat su-button-wide\" style=\"color:#FFFFFF;background-color:#af170f;border-color:#8c130c;border-radius:5px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color:#FFFFFF;padding:7px 22px;font-size:17px;line-height:26px;border-color:#c75d57;border-radius:5px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;text-shadow:none;-moz-text-shadow:none;-webkit-text-shadow:none\"><i class=\"sui sui-heart\" style=\"font-size:17px;color:#FFFFFF\"><\/i> Comment on Facebook* The owner of the Meta company is recognized as extremist in Russia and is banned.<\/span><\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Magnetars are a special class of neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields, the strongest of any object in the observable universe, approximately a trillion times stronger than the most powerful permanent magnets ever created on Earth. Neutron stars are the remnant cores of massive stars formed at the end of their lives, possessing a mass greater than the Sun and compressed to the size of a city, making them natural laboratories for studying extreme physical phenomena. Magnetars, as previously thought, can come in different types. One possibility is an exploding object orbiting a black hole surrounded by a disk of material. Another possibility is a pair of rotating neutron stars whose magnetospheres periodically interact, creating a cavity where eruptions can occur. Magnetars are estimated to be active for about 10,000 years before settling down, so they could be found where a firestorm of star formation is occurring. However, this does<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[545,40],"tags":[1028,720,902,1029],"class_list":{"0":"post-2353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-deepspace","8":"category-kosmos","9":"tag-magnetars","10":"tag-milky-way","11":"tag-neutron-stars","12":"tag-pulsars"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2356,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353\/revisions\/2356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}