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So a magnetar in a nearby galaxy blew off a flare with up to 100 TRILLION times the Sun's energy and my brain will just be over here in a corner running around in small circles and whimpering. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-brain-curdling-magnetar-superflare-seen-in-a-neighboring-galaxy
2/ Magnetars are the Universe's most powerful magnets, neutron stars with magnetic fields a quadrillion — yes, a million *billion* — times the strength of the Earth's. A huge amount of energy is stored in their fields. If they suffer a crust quake, that energy can blast out.
3/ It's cataclysmic. In 2004 one in the Milky Way erupted, and it ionized the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere from a distance of 50,000 light years — halfway across the galaxy! It's almost beyond belief. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/anniversary-of-a-cosmic-blast
4/ This most recent superflare event was from a magnetar in the galaxy NGC 253, 11 million light years away, detected when gamma rays from the explosion washed over the orbiting Fermi observatory. It's only the 4th one like it ever seen.
This is NGC 253. It's very pretty.
This is NGC 253. It's very pretty.
4.5/ [That gorgeous photo was taken by my friend Adam Block: @ngc1535]
5/ These superflares are very rare, and tend to happen a loooong way away, and don't pose a serious threat to Earth. But they're terrifying in their scope; the amount of energy released for 0.1 sec can outshine *ten thousand galaxies*.
6/ Neutron stars are bizarre little beasts, with the mass of a star squeezed into a ball less than 20 km across. But they play a big role: Pulsars and magnetars are neutron stars, and when two NSs collide they make gold, strontium, and more. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/how-to-make-strontium-collide-two-neutron-stars-and-stay-way-back
7/ I know these sorts of things may sound esoteric and removed from daily life, but objects like these literally create the elements we use in our daily lives. The study of astronomy is in many direct ways the study of ourselves. Just another reason it's so cool.
8/8 And this is *real*. It's actually going on in the sky above us, these exploding stars, detonating magnetic fields, nuclear fusion creating the elements of life. It's the greatest show off Earth, and we get to watch, to figure it out. It's the best. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-brain-curdling-magnetar-superflare-seen-in-a-neighboring-galaxy
