A study published in the journal Science has utilized data from NASAs Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite to expose that a highly allured dead star understood as a magnetar has a solid surface with no atmosphere. Magnetars are neutron stars– very thick remnant cores of huge stars that have blown up as supernovae at the ends of their lives. Unlike other neutron stars, they have an enormous magnetic field– the most powerful in the universe. They are believed to be powered by their ultra-powerful magnetic fields, 100 to 1,000 times stronger than standard neutron stars.
The stars gas has reached a tipping point and end up being strong in a comparable method that water may turn to ice.
This artists impression shows a magnetar in the star cluster Westerlund 1. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada
According to a brand-new study the X-ray light produced by a particular magnetar– an extremely allured dead star– appears to suggest that the star has a solid surface and no atmosphere.
A study published in the journal Science has utilized data from NASAs Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite to expose that an extremely magnetized dead star called a magnetar has a solid surface area with no environment. Led by researchers at the University of Padova, the research study represents the very first time polarized X-ray light from a magnetar has actually been observed. This was the very first time polarized X-ray light from a magnetar had been observed.
IXPE, a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, allows researchers to analyze X-ray light in space by measuring its polarization– the direction of the light waves oscillation. The team studied magnetar 4U 0142 +61, located in the Cassiopeia constellation around 13,000 light years from Earth.
Magnetars are neutron stars– extremely dense residue cores of massive stars that have exploded as supernovae at the ends of their lives. Unlike other neutron stars, they have an enormous electromagnetic field– the most effective in deep space. They emit intense X-rays and show unpredictable periods of activity, with the emission of bursts and flares which can release in simply one second an amount of energy millions of times higher than our Sun gives off in one year. They are believed to be powered by their ultra-powerful electromagnetic fields, 100 to 1,000 times stronger than basic neutron stars.
The research team discovered a much lower proportion of polarized light than would be anticipated if the X-rays gone through an atmosphere. (Polarized light is light where the wiggle is all in the same instructions– that is, the electric fields vibrate only in one way. An environment serves as a filter, selecting just one polarization state of the light.).
The group also discovered that for particles of light at higher energies, the angle of polarization– the wiggle– turned by precisely 90 degrees compared to light at lower energies, following what theoretical models would anticipate if the star had a solid crust surrounded by an external magnetosphere filled with electric currents.
The stars gas has reached a tipping point and become strong in a comparable method that water might turn to ice. This is an outcome of the stars incredibly strong magnetic field.
” But, like with water, temperature level is also a factor– a hotter gas will need a stronger electromagnetic field to end up being solid.
” A next action is to observe hotter neutron stars with a similar magnetic field, to investigate how the interaction between temperature level and electromagnetic field impacts the homes of the stars surface area.”.
Lead author Dr. Roberto Taverna, from the University of Padova, stated: “The most amazing function we might observe is the change in polarization direction with energy, with the polarization angle swinging by precisely 90 degrees.
” This remains in agreement with what theoretical designs predict and confirms that magnetars are certainly endowed with ultra-strong magnetic fields.”.
Quantum theory predicts that light propagating in a strongly magnetized environment is polarized in two instructions, parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field. The quantity and direction of the observed polarization bear the imprint of the electromagnetic field structure and of the physical state of matter in the area of the neutron star, supplying information unattainable otherwise.
At high energies, photons (particles of light) polarized perpendicularly to the magnetic field are anticipated to control, leading to the observed 90-degree polarization swing.
Professor Roberto Turolla, from the University of Padova, who is also an honorary professor at the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, stated: “The polarization at low energies is informing us that the magnetic field is most likely so strong to turn the atmosphere around the star into a strong or a liquid, a phenomenon referred to as magnetic condensation.”.
The strong crust of the star is believed to be composed of a lattice of ions, held together by the electromagnetic field. The atoms would not be round however lengthened in the direction of the electromagnetic field.
It is still a topic of dispute whether magnetars and other neutron stars have environments. The brand-new paper is the very first observation of a neutron star where a solid crust is a reliable explanation.
Teacher Jeremy Heyl of the University of British Columbia (UBC) added: “It is also worth keeping in mind that consisting of quantum electrodynamics impacts, as we performed in our theoretical modeling, offers outcomes compatible with the IXPE observation. We are likewise examining alternative models to discuss the IXPE data, for which correct numerical simulations are still lacking.”.
Referral: “Polarized x-rays from a magnetar” by Roberto Taverna, Roberto Turolla, Fabio Muleri, Jeremy Heyl, Silvia Zane, Luca Baldini, Denis González-Caniulef, Matteo Bachetti, John Rankin, Ilaria Caiazzo, Niccolò Di Lalla, Victor Doroshenko, Manel Errando, Ephraim Gau, Demet Kırmızıbayrak, Henric Krawczynski, Michela Negro, Mason Ng, Nicola Omodei, Andrea Possenti, Toru Tamagawa, Keisuke Uchiyama, Martin C. Weisskopf, Ivan Agudo, Lucio A. Antonelli, Wayne H. Baumgartner, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Stefano Bianchi, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Raffaella Bonino, Alessandro Brez, Niccolò Bucciantini, Fiamma Capitanio, Simone Castellano, Elisabetta Cavazzuti, Stefano Ciprini, Enrico Costa, Alessandra De Rosa, Ettore Del Monte, Laura Di Gesu, Alessandro Di Marco, Immacolata Donnarumma, Michal Dovčiak, Steven R. Ehlert, Teruaki Enoto, Yuri Evangelista, Sergio Fabiani, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Javier A. Garcia, Shuichi Gunji, Kiyoshi Hayashida, Wataru Iwakiri, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Vladimir Karas, Takao Kitaguchi, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, Fabio La Monaca, Luca Latronico, Ioannis Liodakis, Simone Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Frédéric Marin, Andrea Marinucci, Alan P. Marscher, Herman L. Marshall, Giorgio Matt, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Stephen C.-Y. Ng, Stephen L. ODell, Chiara Oppedisano, Alessandro Papitto, George G. Pavlov, Abel L. Peirson, Matteo Perri, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Maura Pilia, Juri Poutanen, Simonetta Puccetti, Brian D. Ramsey, Ajay Ratheesh, Roger W. Romani, Carmelo Sgrò, Patrick Slane, Paolo Soffitta, Gloria Spandre, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Yuzuru Tawara, Allyn F. Tennant, Nicholas E. Thomas, Francesco Tombesi, Alessio Trois, Sergey S. Tsygankov, Jacco Vink, Kinwah Wu and Fei Xie, 3 November 2022, Science.DOI: 10.1126/ science.add0080.