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A flash of light from 5.5 *billion* light years away reveals a colossal explosion that may have given birth to the most terrifying beast in the sky: a magnetar. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/did-astronomers-just-witness-the-explosive-birth-of-a-magnetar
2/ The first notice was a gamma-ray burst seen in May 2020. A big spike in that high-energy light was seen by the Swift satellite. Follow-up observations showed a powerful explosion... a little *too* powerful. Like, 10X too powerful (in infrared).
3/ My article goes into detail, but the burst indicated two neutron stars collided, blasting out vast amounts of matter and radiation in an event we call a kilonova. We think that usually leaves a black hole behind. But that doesn't explain the extra energy...
4/ More likely the collision created an even bigger and more powerful neutron star, one with a magnetic field so strong it sends chills down my soul: a magnetar, with gravity 1 BILLION times Earth's and a magnetic field 1 QUADRILLION times our planet's.
5/ This video shows the sequence: 2 neutron stars spiral together over billions of years, collide, and explode. The magnetar forms, and two beams of ridiculously powerful matter and energy erupt away. We see that last part as the gamma-ray burst.
6/ The magnetar's magnetic field adds vast amounts of energy to the material around it, which is why the infrared observations made the explosion seem so much bigger.
Mind you, this isn't confirmed, but it does seem to be the most likely explanation. It makes sense to me.
Mind you, this isn't confirmed, but it does seem to be the most likely explanation. It makes sense to me.
7/ For more background info, I wrote an article about magnetars just last week! They appear to be tied with weird Fast Radio Bursts, milisecond-long blasts of radio energy from hundreds of millions and billions of light years away. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/breakthrough-mysterious-radio-signal-traced-to-a-galactic-minimonster
8/ A lot of people are scared of black holes, but for my money magnetars are WAY more terrifying.
In 2004 one blew its lid off. This event compressed Earth's magnetic field and partially ionized our upper atmosphere from *50,000 light years away*. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/anniversary-of-a-cosmic-blast
In 2004 one blew its lid off. This event compressed Earth's magnetic field and partially ionized our upper atmosphere from *50,000 light years away*. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/anniversary-of-a-cosmic-blast
9/ A black hole wishes it could do that.
To be clear I don't lie awake at night paralyzed in fright. I mean the *idea* of them, just that something so powerful can happen... Good thing the scariest ones are so far away! They're amazing.
To be clear I don't lie awake at night paralyzed in fright. I mean the *idea* of them, just that something so powerful can happen... Good thing the scariest ones are so far away! They're amazing.
10/ It's not clear how magnetars form, and this new event is a huge clue. There's evidence they can happen when a massive star explodes, or when two white dwarfs collide. Now it looks like a binary neutron star merger can do the trick as well. Good to know.
11/11 Interesting that one object can (possibly) be made in such totally different ways! The Universe is a pretty surprising place, and the more we study it the more surprising it gets.
I love science. It never gets old. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/did-astronomers-just-witness-the-explosive-birth-of-a-magnetar
I love science. It never gets old. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/did-astronomers-just-witness-the-explosive-birth-of-a-magnetar
