The night sky is a treasure trove of celestial wonders, and sometimes incredible events happen when no one is watching. Astronomers were thrilled when a satellite captured a rare explosion in space by chance, pointing in the right direction at the right time.
A massive eruption illuminated the galaxy known as M82, which is situated 12 million light-years away from Earth. Initially thought to be caused by a collision between two neutron stars, astronomers discovered that the explosion was actually the result of a superpowerful neutron star emitting an intense gamma-ray burst.
Neutron stars are the remnants of massive stars that exploded as supernovae, forming compact spheres with strong magnetic fields instead of collapsing into black holes.
The observed neutron star was identified as a magnetar due to its extremely powerful magnetic field, more than 10,000 times stronger than a typical neutron star. Magnetars are known to have the strongest magnetic fields in the universe and release energy through massive flares.
In November 2023, ESA’s INTEGRAL satellite accidentally detected an extragalactic flare which lasted only 10 seconds, triggering a gamma-ray burst alert that quickly reached astronomers worldwide.
Dr. Sandro Meleghetti, the lead author of the study published in the journal Nature, emphasized the significance of the burst coming from a nearby bright galaxy, and the subsequent observations failed to detect any visible light, X-ray, or gravitational wave signals.
This event confirmed the first magnetar flare outside the Milky Way, shedding light on the mysterious phenomena associated with these incredibly magnetic neutron stars.
Only three giant flares from galactic magnetars have been confirmed by scientists in the past 50 years, with the 2004 event being so powerful that it impacted Earth’s upper atmosphere akin to solar flares.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
