Giant eruption reveals 'dead' star


Illustration of a magnetar
 
Illustration of a magnetar. Magnetars are the most intensely magnetised objects in the Universe. Their magnetic fields are some 10 000 million times stronger than Earth’s. If a magnetar were to magically appear at half the Moon’s distance from Earth, its magnetic field would wipe the details off every credit card on Earth.

Below: XMM-Newton observations of the magnetar SGR 0501+4516.

Integral observations
 
High energy X-ray emission from SGR 0501+4516 observed by Integral.



Release date: 16 June 2009