May 2, 2024

Sudden Spin-Down Event Illuminates Magnetar Mystery

The scientists indicate plasma shedding near the magnetic pole, which produced a wind that affected the stars momentum and magnetic field and created the mix required to activate radio emission.
Recommendation: “Magnetar spin-down glitch clearing the method for FRB-like bursts and a pulsed radio episode” by G. Younes, M. G. Baring, A. K. Harding, T. Enoto, Z. Wadiasingh, A. B. Pearlman, W. C. G. Ho, S. Guillot, Z. Arzoumanian, A. Borghese, K. Gendreau, E. Göğüş, T. Güver, A. J. van der Horst, C.-P. Hu, G. K. Jaisawal, C. Kouveliotou, L. Lin and W. A. Majid, 12 January 2023, Nature Astronomy.DOI: 10.1038/ s41550-022-01865-y.

Magnetars are a kind of neutron star that are identified by their exceptionally strong magnetic fields. These fields are approximated to be a thousand billion times more powerful than the magnetic field of the Earth, making magnetars a few of the most magnetic things in deep space. They give off extreme bursts of X-rays and gamma rays, which can last from a fraction of a second to numerous minutes, and are believed to be caused by the release of energy saved in their magnetic fields. In addition, magnetars also emit a continuous low-level emission of X-rays.
A current publication in the journal Nature Astronomy is using brand-new insights into magnetars, whose qualities are still not well understood. As soon as every two to ten seconds, a magnetar is a type of neutron star with a magnetic field that is exceptionally strong and turns.
Researchers observing the magnetar SGR 1935 +2154 found an abrupt slowing down of the stars angular momentum, often referred to as a spin-down problem, on October 5, 2020. In the list below days, the magnetar produced three Fast Radio Burst-like radio bursts followed by a month-long episode of pulsed radio emission, despite there being no signs of variation in the X-ray emission behavior in the star or evidence of a strong X-ray burst.
Due to the rarity of spin-down problems and radio signals from magnetars, the research team says the synchronicity of these occasions recommends an association, providing hints to their origin and triggering mechanisms.