Volcano-like rupture could have caused magnetar slowdown

On Oct. 5, 2020, the rapidly rotating corpse of a long-dead star about 30,000 light years from Earth changed speeds. In a cosmic instant, its spinning slowed. And a few days later, it abruptly started emitting radio waves.

Sudden spin-down event illuminates magnetar mystery

A new paper published in Nature Astronomy is shedding light on magnetars, whose attributes remain poorly understood. A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field that rotates once every two ...

page 2 from 10