View source for Magnetar

{{Short description|Type of neutron star with a strong magnetic field}}
[[Image:Artist’s impression of the magnetar in the star cluster Westerlund 1.jpg|thumb|Artist's conception of a powerful magnetar in a [[star cluster]]]]
A '''magnetar''' is a type of [[neutron star]] with an extremely powerful [[magnetic field]] (~10<sup>9</sup> to 10<sup>11</sup> [[Tesla (unit)|T]], ~10<sup>13</sup> to 10<sup>15</sup> [[Gauss (unit)|G]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kaspi |first1=Victoria M. |last2=Beloborodov |first2=Andrei M. |date=2017|title=Magnetars|journal=Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=261–301 |doi=10.1146/annurev-astro-081915-023329 |arxiv=1703.00068 |bibcode=2017ARA&A..55..261K}}</ref> The magnetic-field decay powers the emission of high-[[photon energy|energy]] [[electromagnetic radiation]], particularly [[X-ray]]s and [[gamma ray]]s.<ref name="Ward">Ward; Brownlee, p.286</ref>
The existence of magnetars was proposed in 1992 by [[Robert C. Duncan (astrophysicist)|Robert Duncan]] and [[Christopher Thompson (astronomer)|Christopher Thompson]].<ref name="duncan_thompson">{{cite journal |doi=10.1086/186413 |bibcode=1992ApJ...392L...9D |title=Formation of Very Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars: Implications for Gamma-Ray Bursts |last1=Duncan |first1=Robert C. |authorlink1=Robert C. Duncan (astrophysicist) |last2=Thompson |first2=Christopher |journal=[[Astrophysical Journal Letters]] |volume=392 |page=L9 |year=1992}}</ref> Their proposal sought to explain the properties of transient sources of gamma rays, now known as [[soft gamma repeater]]s (SGRs).<ref name="journal"/><ref name="sokol">{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Christopher |last2=Duncan |first2=Robert C. |date=July 1995 |title=The soft gamma repeaters as very strongly magnetized neutron stars - I. radiative mechanisms for outbursts |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=275 |issue=2 |pages=255–300 |bibcode=1995MNRAS.275..255T |doi=10.1093/mnras/275.2.255 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Over the following decade, the magnetar hypothesis became widely accepted, and was extended to explain [[anomalous X-ray pulsar]]s (AXPs). {{As of|2021|07}}, 24 magnetars have been confirmed.<ref name=mcgill/>
It has been suggested that magnetars are the source of [[fast radio burst]]s (FRB), in particular as a result of findings in 2020 by scientists using the [[Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder]] (ASKAP) radio telescope.<ref name="SA-20200601">{{cite news |last=Starr |first=Michelle |title=Astronomers Just Narrowed Down The Source of Those Powerful Radio Signals From Space |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/we-re-starting-to-figure-out-where-fast-radio-bursts-come-from |date=1 June 2020 |work=ScienceAlert.com |access-date=2 June 2020 }}</ref>
==Description==
Like other [[Neutron star|neutron stars]], magnetars are around {{convert|20|km}} in diameter, and have a mass of about 1.4 solar masses. They are formed by the collapse of a star with a mass 10–25 times that of the [[Sun]]. The density of the interior of a magnetar is such that a tablespoon of its substance would have a mass of over 100 million tons.<ref name="Ward"/> Magnetars are differentiated from other neutron stars by having even stronger magnetic fields, and by rotating more slowly in comparison. Most observed magnetars rotate once every two to ten seconds,<ref name="sciam_article">
{{cite journal |date=April 2010 |title=Grand unification of neutron stars |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |publisher=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |doi=10.1073/pnas.1000812107 |doi-access=free |last1=Kaspi |first1=V. M. |volume=107 |issue=16 |pages=7147–7152 |pmid=20404205 |pmc=2867699 |arxiv=1005.0876 |bibcode=2010PNAS..107.7147K}}
</ref> whereas typical neutron stars, observed as radio [[pulsar]]s, rotate one to ten times per second.<ref name="nrao">{{cite web |url=https://www.cv.nrao.edu/~sransom/web/Ch6.html |title=Pulsar Properties (Essential radio Astronomy) |publisher=National Radio Astronomy Observatory |access-date=26 Feb 2021 |first1=J. J. |last1=Condon |first2=S. M. |last2=Ransom |name-list-style=amp }}</ref> A magnetar's magnetic field gives rise to very strong and characteristic bursts of X-rays and gamma rays. The active life of a magnetar is short compared to other celestial bodies. Their strong magnetic fields decay after about 10,000 years, after which activity and strong X-ray emission cease. Given the number of magnetars observable today, one estimate puts the number of inactive magnetars in the [[Milky Way]] at 30 million or more.<ref name="sciam_article"/>
[[Quake (natural phenomenon)#Starquake|Starquake]]s triggered on the surface of the magnetar disturb the magnetic field which encompasses it, often leading to extremely powerful [[Gamma-ray burst|gamma-ray flare]] emissions which have been recorded on Earth in 1979, 1998 and 2004.<ref name="journal2"/>
[[File:PIA23863-NeutronStars-Types-20200624.jpg|thumb|center|800px|<div align="center">Neutron Star Types (24 June 2020)</div>]]
=== Magnetic field ===
Magnetars are characterized by their extremely powerful magnetic fields of ~10<sup>9</sup> to 10<sup>11</sup> [[Tesla (unit)|T]].<ref name="mcgill"/> These magnetic fields are a hundred million times stronger than any man-made magnet,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fzd.de/db/Cms?pNid=1482 |title=HLD user program, at Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory |access-date = 2009-02-04}}</ref> and about a trillion times more powerful than the [[Earth's magnetic field|field surrounding Earth]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/the-brightest-blast |title=The Brightest Blast |first=Robert |last=Naeye |date=February 18, 2005 |work=[[Sky & Telescope]] |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> Earth has a [[geomagnetic]] field of 30–60 microteslas, and a [[neodymium magnet|neodymium-based, rare-earth magnet]] has a field of about 1.25 tesla, with a magnetic energy density of 4.0 × 10<sup>5</sup> J/m<sup>3</sup>. A magnetar's 10<sup>10</sup> tesla field, by contrast, has an energy density of {{val|4.0|e=25|u=J/m3}}, with an [[Mass–energy equivalence#Massless particles|''E''/''c''<sup>2</sup>]] mass density more than 10,000 times that of [[lead]]. The magnetic field of a magnetar would be lethal even at a distance of 1,000&nbsp;km due to the strong magnetic field distorting the electron clouds of the subject's constituent atoms, rendering the chemistry of sustaining life impossible.<ref>{{cite web |last=Duncan |first=Robert |title='MAGNETARS', SOFT GAMMA REPEATERS & VERY STRONG MAGNETIC FIELDS |url=http://solomon.as.utexas.edu/magnetar.html |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |publisher=University of Texas}}</ref> At a distance of halfway from Earth to the moon, an average distance between the Earth and the Moon being {{Convert|384400|km|abbr=in}}, a magnetar could wipe information from the magnetic stripes of all [[credit card]]s on Earth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/watchtheskies/swift_nsu_0205.html |title=Cosmic Explosion Among the Brightest in Recorded History |date=February 18, 2005 |first=Christopher |last=Wanjek |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=17 December 2007}}</ref> {{as of|2020}}, they are the most powerful magnetic objects detected throughout the universe.<ref name="journal2">Kouveliotou, C.; Duncan, R. C.; Thompson, C. (February 2003). "[http://solomon.as.utexas.edu/~duncan/sciam.pdf Magnetars] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611144829/http://solomon.as.utexas.edu/~duncan/sciam.pdf |date=2007-06-11 }}". ''[[Scientific American]]''; Page 36.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast20may98_1.htm |title="Magnetar" discovery solves 19-year-old mystery |date=May 20, 1998 |first=Dave |last=Dooling |work=Science@NASA Headline News |access-date=17 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214033454/http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast20may98_1.htm |archive-date=14 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
As described in the February 2003 ''[[Scientific American]]'' cover story, remarkable things happen within a magnetic field of magnetar strength. "[[X-ray]] [[photon]]s readily split in two or merge. The vacuum itself is [[Vacuum_polarization|polarized]], becoming strongly [[birefringent]], like a [[calcite]] crystal. [[Atom]]s are deformed into long cylinders thinner than the quantum-relativistic [[de Broglie wavelength]] of an electron."<ref name="journal"/> In a field of about 10<sup>5</sup> teslas [[atomic orbital]]s deform into rod shapes. At 10<sup>10</sup> teslas, a [[hydrogen atom]] becomes 200 times as narrow as its normal diameter.<ref name="journal">Kouveliotou, C.; Duncan, R. C.; Thompson, C. (February 2003). "[http://solomon.as.utexas.edu/magnetar.html#SciAm Magnetars]". ''[https://solomon.as.utexas.edu/sciam.pdf Scientific American]''; Page 41.</ref>
====Origins of magnetic fields====
The dominant model of the strong fields of magnetars is that it results from a [[magnetohydrodynamic dynamo]] process in the turbulent, extremely dense conducting fluid that exists before the neutron star settles into its equilibrium configuration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Christopher |last2=Duncan |first2=Robert C. |date=1993 |title=Neutron Star Dynamos and the Origins of Pulsar Magnetism |url=https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1993ApJ...408..194T |journal=Astrophysical Journal |volume=408 |pages=194–217 |doi=10.1086/172580 |bibcode=1993ApJ...408..194T |via=NASA Astrophysics Data System |doi-access=free }}</ref> These fields then persist due to persistent currents in a proton-superconductor phase of matter that exists at an intermediate depth within the neutron star (where neutrons predominate by mass). A similar magnetohydrodynamic dynamo process produces even more intense transient fields during coalescence of pairs of neutron stars.<ref>{{Cite journal
|last1        = Price
|first1       = Daniel J.
|last2        = Rosswog
|first2       = Stephan
|title        = Producing Ultrastrong Magnetic Fields in Neutron Star Mergers
|doi          = 10.1126/science.1125201
|journal      = Science
|volume       = 312
|issue        = 5774
|pages        = 719–722
|date         = May 2006
|pmid         = 16574823
|arxiv        = astro-ph/0603845
|url          = http://users.monash.edu.au/~dprice/research/nsmag/
|bibcode      = 2006Sci...312..719P
|s2cid        = 30023248
|access-date  = 2012-07-13
|archive-date = 2018-07-17
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20180717141702/http://users.monash.edu.au/~dprice/research/nsmag/
|url-status   = dead
}} {{open access}}</ref> An alternative model is that they simply result from the collapse of stars with unusually strong magnetic fields.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Zhou | first1 = Ping
| last2 = Vink | first2 = Jacco
| last3 = Safi-Harb | first3 = Samar
| last4 = Miceli | first4 = Marco
| title = Spatially resolved X-ray study of supernova remnants that host magnetars: Implication of their fossil field origin
| doi = 10.1051/0004-6361/201936002
| journal = Astronomy & Astrophysics
| volume = 629
| issue = A51
| pages = 12
| date = September 2019
| arxiv = 1909.01922
| bibcode = 2019A&A...629A..51Z
| s2cid = 201252025
}} {{open access}}</ref>
=== Formation ===
[[Image:Dust Ring around Magnetar1.jpg|thumb|right|Magnetar SGR 1900+14 (center of image) showing a surrounding ring of gas 7 light-years across in infrared light, as seen by the [[Spitzer Space Telescope]]. The magnetar itself is not visible at this wavelength but has been seen in X-ray light.]]
In a [[supernova]], a star collapses to a neutron star, and its magnetic field increases dramatically in strength through conservation of [[magnetic flux]]. Halving a linear dimension increases the magnetic field strength fourfold. Duncan and Thompson calculated that when the spin, temperature and magnetic field of a newly formed neutron star falls into the right ranges, a [[Dynamo theory|dynamo mechanism]] could act, converting heat and rotational energy into magnetic energy and increasing the magnetic field, normally an already enormous 10<sup>8</sup> [[Tesla (unit)|tesla]]s, to more than 10<sup>11</sup> teslas (or 10<sup>15</sup> [[gauss (unit)|gauss]]). The result is a ''magnetar''.<ref>Kouveliotou, p.237</ref> It is estimated that about one in ten supernova explosions results in a magnetar rather than a more standard neutron star or pulsar.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1 = Popov |first1 = S. B. |last2 = Prokhorov |first2 = M. E. |doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09983.x |title = Progenitors with enhanced rotation and the origin of magnetars |journal = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume = 367 |issue = 2 |pages = 732–736 |date=April 2006 |doi-access = free
|arxiv = astro-ph/0505406 |bibcode = 2006MNRAS.367..732P |s2cid = 14930432
}} {{open access}}</ref>
=== 1979 discovery ===
On March 5, 1979, a few months after the successful dropping of [[Lander (spacecraft)|landers]] into the atmosphere of [[Venus]], the two uncrewed Soviet spaceprobes [[Venera 11]] and [[Venera 12|12]], then in [[heliocentric orbit]], were hit by a blast of gamma radiation at approximately 10:51 EST. This contact raised the radiation readings on both the probes from a normal 100 counts per second to over 200,000 counts a second in only a fraction of a millisecond.<ref name="journal"/>
Eleven seconds later, [[Helios (spacecraft)|Helios 2]], a [[NASA]] probe, itself in orbit around the [[Sun]], was saturated by the blast of radiation. It soon hit Venus, where the [[Pioneer Venus Orbiter]]'s detectors were overcome by the wave. Shortly thereafter the gamma rays inundated the detectors of three [[U.S. Department of Defense]] [[Vela (satellite)|Vela satellites]], the [[Prognoz (satellite)|Soviet Prognoz 7 satellite]], and the [[Einstein Observatory]], all orbiting Earth. Before exiting the solar system the radiation was detected by the [[International Cometary Explorer|International Sun–Earth Explorer]] in [[halo orbit]].<ref name="journal"/>
This was the strongest wave of extra-solar gamma rays ever detected at over 100 times as intense as any previously known burst. Given the [[speed of light]] and its detection by several widely dispersed spacecraft, the source of the [[gamma radiation]] could be triangulated to within an accuracy of approximately 2 [[arcseconds]].<ref>{{cite journal
| title = Precise source location of the anomalous 1979 March 5 gamma-ray transient
| journal = The Astrophysical Journal
| volume = 255
|date=Apr 1982
| page = L45–L48
| doi = 10.1086/183766
| author = Cline, T. L., Desai, U. D., Teegarden, B. J., Evans, W. D., Klebesadel, R. W., Laros, J. G.
|bibcode = 1982ApJ...255L..45C
| hdl = 2060/19820012236
| hdl-access = free
}} {{open access}}</ref> The direction of the source corresponded with the remnants of a star that had [[SGR 0525−66|gone supernova around 3000 BCE]].<ref name="journal2"/> It was in the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]] and the source was named [[SGR 0525-66]]; the event itself was named [[GRB 790305b]], the first-observed SGR megaflare.
===Recent discoveries===
[[File:Artist’s impression of a gamma-ray burst and supernova powered by a magnetar.jpg|thumb|Artist's impression of a gamma-ray burst and supernova powered by a magnetar<ref>{{cite web |title=Biggest Explosions in the Universe Powered by Strongest Magnets |url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1527/ |access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref>]]
On February 21, 2008, it was announced that NASA and researchers at [[McGill University]] had discovered a neutron star with the properties of a radio pulsar which emitted some magnetically powered bursts, like a magnetar. This suggests that magnetars are not merely a rare type of pulsar but may be a (possibly reversible) phase in the lives of some pulsars.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mcgill.ca/channels/news/jekyll-hyde-neutron-star-discovered-researchers-29230 |title=Jekyll-Hyde neutron star discovered by researchers] |date=21 February 2008 |publisher=[[McGill University]] |first=Mark |last=Shainblum}}</ref> On September 24, 2008, [[ESO]] announced what it ascertained was the first optically active magnetar-candidate yet discovered, using ESO's [[Very Large Telescope]]. The newly discovered object was designated SWIFT J195509+261406.<ref name="eso.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0831/ <!-- old URL, retained for archival purposes: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/pr-31-08.html --> |title=The Hibernating Stellar Magnet: First Optically Active Magnetar-Candidate Discovered |date=23 September 2008 |publisher=[[European Southern Observatory|ESO]]}}</ref> On September 1, 2014, [[ESA]] released news of a magnetar close to supernova remnant [[Kesteven 79]]. Astronomers from Europe and China discovered this magnetar, named 3XMM J185246.6+003317, in 2013 by looking at images that had been taken in 2008 and 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2014/08/Magnetar_discovered_close_to_supernova_remnant_Kesteven_79 |title=Magnetar discovered close to supernova remnant Kesteven 79 |date=1 September 2014 |publisher=ESA/XMM-Newton/ Ping Zhou, Nanjing University, China}}</ref> In 2013, a magnetar [[SGR J1745−2900|PSR J1745−2900]] was discovered, which orbits the [[black hole]] in the [[Sagittarius A*]] system. This object provides a valuable tool for studying the ionized [[interstellar medium]] toward the [[Galactic Center]]. In 2018, the temporary result of the [[GW170817#Astrophysical origin and products|merger of two neutron stars]] was determined to be a hypermassive magnetar, which shortly collapsed into a black hole.<ref name="MNRAS-20180904">{{Cite journal |last1=van&nbsp;Putten |first1=Maurice H P M |last2=Della&nbsp;Valle |first2=Massimo |date=2018-09-04 |title=Observational evidence for extended emission to GW170817 |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters |language=en |volume=482 |issue=1 |pages=L46–L49 |doi=10.1093/mnrasl/sly166 |doi-access=free |issn=1745-3925 |arxiv=1806.02165 |bibcode=2019MNRAS.482L..46V |s2cid=119216166}}</ref>
In April 2020, a possible link between [[fast radio burst]]s (FRBs) and magnetars was suggested, based on observations of [[SGR 1935+2154]], a likely magnetar located in the [[Milky Way]] galaxy.<ref name="AT-20201104">{{cite news |last=Timmer |first=John |title=We finally know what has been making fast radio bursts - Magnetars, a type of neutron star, can produce the previously enigmatic bursts. |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/11/its-coming-from-inside-the-galaxy-first-fast-radio-burst-source-idd/ |date=4 November 2020 |work=[[Ars Technica]] |access-date=4 November 2020 }}</ref><ref name="NASA-20201104">{{cite news |last1=Cofield |first1=Calla |last2=Andreoli |first2=Calire |last3=Reddy |first3=Francis |title=NASA Missions Help Pinpoint the Source of a Unique X-ray, Radio Burst |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7776 |date=4 November 2020 |work=[[NASA]] |access-date=4 November 2020 }}</ref><ref name="NAT-20201104">{{cite journal |author=Andersen, B. |display-authors=et al.|title=A bright millisecond-duration radio burst from a Galactic magnetar |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2863-y |date=4 November 2020 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=587 |issue=7832|pages=54–58 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2863-y |pmid=33149292|arxiv=2005.10324|bibcode=2020Natur.587...54C|s2cid=218763435|access-date=5 November 2020 }}</ref><ref name="SA-20200505">{{cite news |last=Drake |first=Nadia |author-link=Nadia Drake |title='Magnetic Star' Radio Waves Could Solve the Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts - The surprise detection of a radio burst from a neutron star in our galaxy might reveal the origin of a bigger cosmological phenomenon |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/magnetic-star-radio-waves-could-solve-the-mystery-of-fast-radio-bursts/ |date=5 May 2020 |work=[[Scientific American]] |access-date=9 May 2020 }}</ref><ref name="SA-20200501">{{cite news |last=Starr |first=Michelle |title=Exclusive: We Might Have First-Ever Detection of a Fast Radio Burst in Our Own Galaxy |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/a-galactic-magnetar-just-spat-out-something-shockingly-like-a-fast-radio-burst |date=1 May 2020 |work=ScienceAlert.com |access-date=9 May 2020 }}</ref>
==Known magnetars==
[[Image:SGR 1806-20 108530main cloudballPrint.jpg|right|thumb|On 27 December 2004, a burst of gamma rays from [[SGR 1806−20]] passed through the Solar System (''artist's conception shown''). The burst was so powerful that it had effects on Earth's atmosphere, at a range of about 50,000 [[light-year]]s.]]
{{As of|2021|07}}, 24 magnetars are known, with six more candidates awaiting confirmation.<ref name="mcgill"/> A full listing is given in the [[McGill University|McGill]] SGR/AXP Online Catalog.<ref name="mcgill">{{cite web|url=http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~pulsar/magnetar/main.html|title=McGill SGR/AXP Online Catalog|access-date=26 Jan 2021}}</ref> Examples of known magnetars include:
* [[SGR 0525−66]], in the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]], located about 163,000 light-years from Earth, the first found (in 1979)
* [[SGR 1806−20]], located 50,000 light-years from Earth on the far side of the Milky Way in the constellation of [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]] and the most magnetized object known.
* [[SGR 1900+14]], located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation [[Aquila (constellation)|Aquila]]. After a long period of low emissions (significant bursts only in 1979 and 1993) it became active in May–August 1998, and a burst detected on August 27, 1998, was of sufficient power to force [[NEAR Shoemaker]] to shut down to prevent damage and to saturate instruments on [[BeppoSAX]], [[Wind (spacecraft)|WIND]] and [[RXTE]]. On May 29, 2008, NASA's [[Spitzer Space Telescope]] discovered a ring of matter around this magnetar. It is thought that this ring formed in the 1998 burst.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/29may_magnetar.htm?list793087|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721140241/http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/29may_magnetar.htm?list793087|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-21|title=Strange Ring Found Around Dead Star}}</ref>
*[[SGR 0501+4516]] was discovered on 22 August 2008.<ref name="nasa.gov">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/magnetar_europe.html|title=NASA - European Satellites Probe a New Magnetar|website=www.nasa.gov}}</ref>
* [[AXP 1E 1048-59|1E 1048.1−5937]], located 9,000 light-years away in the constellation [[Carina (constellation)|Carina]]. The original star, from which the magnetar formed, had a mass 30 to 40 times that of the [[Sun]].
* {{As of|2008|9}}, ESO reports identification of an object which it has initially identified as a magnetar, [[SWIFT J195509+261406]], originally identified by a gamma-ray burst (GRB 070610).<ref name="eso.org"/>
* [[CXO J164710.2-455216]], located in the massive galactic cluster [[Westerlund 1]], which formed from a star with a mass in excess of 40 solar masses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/wd1/|title=Chandra :: Photo Album :: Westerlund 1 :: 02 Nov 05|website=chandra.harvard.edu}}</ref><ref name=eso>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1415/|title=Magnetar Formation Mystery Solved?|website=www.eso.org}}</ref><ref>Wood, Chris. "[http://www.gizmag.com/vlt-magnetar-mystery-solved/32101/ Very Large Telescope solves magnetar mystery]" ''GizMag'', 14 May 2014. Accessed: 18 May 2014.</ref>
*SWIFT J1822.3 Star-1606 discovered on 14 July 2011 by Italian and Spanish researchers of [[Spanish National Research Council|CSIC]] at Madrid and Catalonia. This magnetar contrary to previsions has a low external magnetic field, and it might be as young as half a million years.<ref name="arxiv.org">[https://arxiv.org/abs/1211.7347 ''A new low-B magnetar'']</ref>
*3XMM J185246.6+003317, discovered by international team of astronomers, looking at data from ESA's XMM-Newton [[X-ray telescope]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rea|first1=N.|last2=Viganò|first2=D.|last3=Israel|first3=G. L.|last4=Pons|first4=J. A.|last5=Torres|first5=D. F.|date=2014-01-01|title=3XMM J185246.6+003317: Another Low Magnetic Field Magnetar|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014ApJ...781L..17R|journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters|volume=781|issue=1|pages=L17|doi=10.1088/2041-8205/781/1/L17|arxiv=1311.3091|bibcode=2014ApJ...781L..17R|hdl=10045/34971|s2cid=118736623|issn=0004-637X}}</ref>
* [[SGR 1935+2154]], emitted a pair of luminous radio bursts on 28 April 2020. There was speculation that these may be galactic examples of [[fast radio burst]]s.
* [[Swift J1818.0-1607]], X-ray burst detected March 2020, is one of five known magnetars that are also radio pulsars. By its time of discovery, it may be only 240 years old.<ref name=N2020-113>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/a-cosmic-baby-is-discovered-and-its-brilliant|title=A Cosmic Baby Is Discovered, and It's Brilliant|website=NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)}}</ref><ref name="PHYS-20210108">{{cite news |author=[[Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics]] |title=Chandra observations reveal extraordinary magnetar |url=https://phys.org/news/2021-01-chandra-reveal-extraordinary-magnetar.html |date=8 January 2021 |work=[[Phys.org]] |access-date=8 January 2021 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; width:400px;"
! Magnetar—[[SGR J1745-2900]]
|-
| style="font-size:88%" | [[File:Magnetar-SGR1745-2900-20150515.jpg|400px]]
{{center|Magnetar found very close to the [[supermassive black hole]], [[Sagittarius A*]], at the center of the [[Milky Way]] [[galaxy]]}}
|}
==Bright supernovae==
Unusually bright supernovae are thought to result from the death of very large stars as [[pair-instability supernova]]e (or pulsational pair-instability supernovae). However, recent research by astronomers<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kasen|first=D.|author2=L. Bildsten.|title=Supernova Light Curves Powered by Young Magnetars|journal=Astrophysical Journal|date=1 Jul 2010|volume=717|issue=1|pages=245–249|doi=10.1088/0004-637X/717/1/245|arxiv = 0911.0680 |bibcode = 2010ApJ...717..245K |s2cid=118630165}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Woosley|first=S.|title=Bright Supernovae From Magnetar Birth|journal=Astrophysical Journal Letters|date=20 Aug 2010|volume=719|issue=2|pages=L204–L207|doi=10.1088/2041-8205/719/2/L204|arxiv = 0911.0698 |bibcode = 2010ApJ...719L.204W |s2cid=118564100}}</ref> has postulated that energy released from newly formed magnetars into the surrounding supernova remnants may be responsible for some of the brightest supernovae, such as SN 2005ap and SN 2008es.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Super Luminous Ic Supernovae: catching a magnetar by the tail |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |date=June 2013 |volume=770 |issue=2 |pages=128 |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/770/2/128 |arxiv=1304.3320 |bibcode=2013ApJ...770..128I |last1=Inserra |first1=C. |last2=Smartt |first2=S. J. |last3=Jerkstrand |first3=A. |last4=Valenti |first4=S. |last5=Fraser |first5=M. |last6=Wright |first6=D. |last7=Smith |first7=K. |last8=Chen |first8=T.-W. |last9=Kotak |first9=R. |last10=Pastorello |first10=A. |last11=Nicholl |first11=M. |last12=Bresolin |first12=F. |last13=Kudritzki |first13=R. P. |last14=Benetti |first14=S. |last15=Botticella |first15=M. T. |last16=Burgett |first16=W. S. |last17=Chambers |first17=K. C. |last18=Ergon |first18=M. |last19=Flewelling |first19=H. |last20=Fynbo |first20=J. P. U. |last21=Geier |first21=S. |last22=Hodapp |first22=K. W. |last23=Howell |first23=D. A. |last24=Huber |first24=M. |last25=Kaiser |first25=N. |last26=Leloudas |first26=G. |last27=Magill |first27=L. |last28=Magnier |first28=E. A. |last29=McCrum |first29=M. G. |last30=Metcalfe |first30=N. |s2cid=13122542 |display-authors=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Queen's University, Belfast|author-link=Queen's University, Belfast|title=New light on star death: Super-luminous supernovae may be powered by magnetars|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131016132155.htm|website=[[ScienceDaily]]|access-date=21 October 2013|date=16 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|author1=M. Nicholl |author2=S. J. Smartt |author3=A. Jerkstrand |author4=C. Inserra |author5=M. McCrum |author6=R. Kotak |author7=M. Fraser |author8=D. Wright |author9=T.-W. Chen |author10=K. Smith |author11=D. R. Young |author12=S. A. Sim |author13=S. Valenti |author14=D. A. Howell |author15=F. Bresolin |author16=R. P. Kudritzki |author17=J. L. Tonry |author18=M. E. Huber |author19=A. Rest |author20=A. Pastorello |author21=L. Tomasella |author22=E. Cappellaro |author23=S. Benetti |author24=S. Mattila |author25=E. Kankare |author26=T. Kangas |author27=G. Leloudas |author28=J. Sollerman |author29=F. Taddia |author30=E. Berger |author31=R. Chornock |author32=G. Narayan |author33=C. W. Stubbs |author34=R. J. Foley |author35=R. Lunnan |author36=A. Soderberg |author36-link= Alicia M. Soderberg |author37=N. Sanders |author38=D. Milisavljevic |author39=R. Margutti |author40=R. P. Kirshner |author41=N. Elias-Rosa |author42=A. Morales-Garoffolo |author43=S. Taubenberger |author44=M. T. Botticella |author45=S. Gezari |author46=Y. Urata |author47=S. Rodney |author48=A. G. Riess |author49=D. Scolnic |author50=W. M. Wood-Vasey |author51=W. S. Burgett |author52=K. Chambers |author53=H. A. Flewelling |author54=E. A. Magnier |author55=N. Kaiser |author56=N. Metcalfe |author57=J. Morgan |author58=P. A. Price |author59=W. Sweeney |author60=C. Waters. |title=Slowly fading super-luminous supernovae that are not pair-instability explosions|journal=Nature|date=17 Oct 2013|volume=502|series=7471|issue=346|pages=346–9|doi=10.1038/nature12569|arxiv = 1310.4446 |bibcode = 2013Natur.502..346N|pmid=24132291|s2cid=4472977 }}</ref>
==References==
===Specific===
{{Reflist|30em}}
===Books and literature===
* {{cite book |author-link1= Peter Ward (paleontologist) |first1= Peter Douglas |last1= Ward |author-link2= Donald E. Brownlee |first2= Donald |last2= Brownlee |title= Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe |publisher= Springer |date= 2000 |isbn= 0-387-98701-0 }}
* {{cite book |first= Chryssa |last= Kouveliotou |title= The Neutron Star-Black Hole Connection |publisher= Springer |date= 2001 |isbn= 1-4020-0205-X }}
*{{cite journal |last1= Mereghetti|first1= S.|date=2008 |title= The strongest cosmic magnets: soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars|journal= Astronomy and Astrophysics Review|volume=15 |issue=4 |pages= 225–287|doi=10.1007/s00159-008-0011-z |bibcode = 2008A&ARv..15..225M |arxiv = 0804.0250 |s2cid= 14595222}}
===General===
* {{cite news | title=Origin of magnetars | date=2 February 2005 | publisher=[[CNN]] | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/02/01/universe.magnets/index.html |first=Michael |last=Schirber}}
* {{cite news | title=The Brightest Blast | date=18 February 2005 | publisher=[[Sky and Telescope]] | url=https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/the-brightest-blast/ |first=Robert |last=Naeye}}
==External links==
{{Commons and category|Magnetar|Magnetars}}
* McGill Online Magnetar Catalog [http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~pulsar/magnetar/main.html McGill Online Magnetar Catalog -- Main Table]
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