A Rare Magnetar Discovery

As per data published by NASA, the Swift J1818.0-1607 was first discovered on March 12 when it released a massive burst of X-rays. European Space Agency's XMM-Newton observatory and NASA's NuSTAR telescope then studied this magnetar and found that it was the youngest known magnetar at about 240 years old. The data states that Swift J1818.0-1607 is about 16,000 light-years away from Earth. This means the light from Swift J1818.0-1607 was 16,000 years old and at the time, the magnetar was 240 years old. The data also states that there are over 3,000 known neutron stars and till now, only 31 magnetars have been confirmed. A researcher stated that if they understand the formation story of these objects, they might be able to understand why there is such a huge difference between the number of magnetars discovered and the total number of known neutron stars.

#universe #star #spacesecrets #cosmos #nasa #universemysteries

[davidgraham]

Magnetars eventually become common neutron stars after their magnetism weakens enough.
Finding them is indeed a rare thing.