Magnetar Research Paper

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A magnetar is a kind of neutron star with one of the strongest magnetic fields detected in the Universe. Many stars have magnetic fields, but that by itself does not distinguish as magnetar from other stars. The distinguishing characteristic of magnetars is their extraordinarily intense magnetic fields that range between ~1014 and ~1015 Gauss (G) making them hundreds to thousands of times stronger than pulsars and among the strongest magnetic fields ever observed (Tiengo & Schartel, 2013). Explained another way ~1015 is equal to ~1011 tesla; or a magnetic field so strong that if the Moon possessed that magnetic field, the magnetic stripe on all credit cards would be stripped clean (Tate, 2010). That still might be challenging to comprehend. However, the strongest permanent magnet on Earth is approximately 1 Tesla compared to a magnetar with at least 100 billion times that strength (Tate, 2010).
What Is a Magnetar?
Magnetars are a type of neutron star, and Neutron stars are the dead core remnants of a once massive star that collapsed after consuming all its fuel resulting in a dramatic supernova event. Neutron stars are incredibly dense objects containing three times the mass of the Sun into a 20 km (12.42 miles) diameter sphere …show more content…

Chryssa Kouveliotou in 1998 (Dooling, 1998). Kouveliotou solved the mystery of violently active dead neutron stars that puzzled astrophysicists for nearly two decades. Two astrophysicists, Dr. Robert Duncan of the University of Texas at Austin with Dr. Christopher Thompson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented the theory of a magnetar in 1992. Their theory was a dynamic model of a neutron star with a violent afterlife spanning approximately 10,000 years (Dooling, 1998). Many of the peers discounted their theory arguing that the internal pressures with other factors would prevent a star from generating such intense magnetic fields (Dooling,

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