From a pulsar, a magnetar

2008/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

Astronomers who were studying the pulsar called PSR J1846-0258 were deeply surprised to see that it suddenly emitted an X-ray jet. Pulsars do not, but magnetics do, so astronomers believe that pulsars and magnets are somehow related.

Pulsars are the stars that remain after the explosion of supernova stars. Despite having a mass similar to the Sun, they are usually asteroid in size, and their characteristic is that they spin very fast: they can turn up to a hundred times per second. In the Milky Way some 1,800 pulsar are identified, of which the PSR J1846-0258 is one of the youngest, with an approximate age of 1,000 years.

Magnets, on the other hand, are much rarer, finding about a dozen. Their main feature is that they have a huge magnetic field and emit huge X-ray jets as well as gamma rays.

Now, the PSR J1846-0258 has been captured as a magnetic pulse, which has generated numerous questions: Have all the magnetars been pressed before? Do pulsars sometimes become magnetic? Astronomers are now looking for more data to answer questions.

This unique observation was made by NASA astronomers through the RXTE satellite and the results were published in the journal Science.