As a result of a supernova collapse, either a black hole or a neutron star is formed. This article focuses on neutron stars, specifically magnetars. For more information about black holes, please refer to our earlier article HERE.
What is a Magnetar?
Indicated by its nomenclature (naming system), magnetars are neutron stars that display strong magnetising attraction and abilities. With about 10^9 - 10^11 Teslas of magnetic flux density, a magnetar repeatedly emits a series of gamma and x-ray radiations in the course of its lifetime in various forms including short bursts, large outbursts, giant flares and quasi-periodic oscillations. Such magnetic flux density is roughly 100 million times the attraction of a man made magnet.
Discovery of Magnetar
The first discovery of a magnetar dates back to March 5th, 1979, when the two spacecraft Venera 11 and Venera 12 were hit by extremely strong radiation. The radiation reading on the spacecraft skyrocketed straight after the impact, followed by similar detections by NASA’s spacecraft Helios 2. Soon after, the radiation scattered across many more satellites across the contemporary solar system, establishing and validating the discoveries of the magnetar neutron star type.
Theorisation and Formation
The key difference between magnetars and other neutron stars is that magnetars have much slower rotation times, along with substantially higher magnetic forces. The causes of such can be traced back to the theorisation of a magnetar’s formation, which was first proposed by Robert Duncan and Christopher Thompson in 1992. When a supernova completes its explosion, the amount of magnetic flux (force of magnet attractions) is conserved, whilst the mass depletes to only consist of neutrons, causings its distinctive magnetic forces.
Duncan and Thompson further theorised that when the temperature, spin and magnetic field of a neutron star was each to a specific extent, a phenomenon named dynamo mechanism takes place, enabling the transferring of heat and rotational energy towards magnetic energy, hence further increasing the magnetic influx of a magnetar.
Works Cited
Morris, A. (2020). Birth of magnetar from colossal collision potentially spotted for first time. [online] news.northwestern.edu. Available at: https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/11/birth-of-magnetar-from-colossal-collision-potentially-spotted-for-first-time/.
Wikipedia. (2024). Magnetar. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetar#cite_note-journal2-10 [Accessed 1 Jul. 2024].
Wikipedia. (2023). Quasi-periodic oscillation (astronomy). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-periodic_oscillation_(astronomy) [Accessed 1 Jul. 2024].
Wikipedia Contributors (2019). Neutron star. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star.
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