Strongest Magnetic Field On Earth

Magnetars, the Most Magnetic Stars In the Universe

02.02.04

Ultra-powerful magnetic neutron stars play hide-and-seek with astronomers. They're known to erupt without warning, some for hours and others for months, earlier dimming and disappearing again.

Artist's rendering of a magnetar burst At left is an artist's rendering of an erupting neutron star. It tin generate the most intense magnetic field observed in the Universe. The field forcefulness of a magnetar is one thousand trillion times stronger than Earth's and is and so intense that it heats the surface to xviii 1000000 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Nosotros only know of almost 10 magnetars in the Milky Way galaxy." remarked Dr. Peter Wood of the Universities Space Research Association. "If the antics of the magnetar we are studying now are typical, then there very well could be hundreds more out at that place." NASA research has suggested in that location may be far more than magnetars than previously thought.

Observing the explosions from these celestial bodies has been tricky. The answer lies in the timing. So how do the researchers observe what has never been seen? Leave information technology to NASA to develop the perfect piece of equipment to handle the job.

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), launched in December 1995 from Kennedy Space Eye, Fla., was designed to observe fast-moving neutron stars, X-ray pulsars and bursts of X-rays that burnish the heaven and disappear.

Some pulsars spin over a thousand times a second. A neutron star generates a gravitational pull so powerful that a marshmallow impacting the star'south surface would hit with the force of a yard hydrogen bombs.

Magnetars, the nigh magnetic stars known, aren't powered by a conventional machinery such equally nuclear fusion or rotation, co-ordinate to Dr. Vicky Kaspi. "Magnetars represent a new fashion for a star to smooth, which makes this a fascinating field," said Kaspi.

Although non totally understood still, magnetars have magnetic fields a 1000 times stronger than ordinary neutron stars that measure a million billion Gauss, or about a hundred-trillion fridge magnets. For comparison, the Sun's magnetic field is but about 5 Gauss.

In the constellation Cassiopeia, approximately xviii,000 light years from Globe, a magnetar named 1E 2259 is existence studied. It suddenly began bursting in June 2002, with over eighty bursts recorded within a 4-hour window. Since then, Magnetar 1E 2259 hasn't disturbed the depths of space.

Eta Carinae erupting in our Milky Way galaxy Using RXTE, astronomers tin study how gravity works nearly black holes and observe changes in X-ray brightness that terminal for a thousandth of a second, or for several years. They also tin can monitor explosive wavelengths not able to be seen in visible lite.

Eta Carinae is an extremely massive star in our galaxy, and an extremely unstable one. Since 1996, a science team has been monitoring the X-ray flux from this region using RXTE. As RXTE continues to provide the first detailed monitoring of the X-ray emissions of Eta Car, coordinated observations are helping respond many scientists' questions. HST Prototype Credit: Jon Morse

Astronomers will be able to study this tearing and baroque space phenomenon in greater dimension when NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer is launched in mid-2004. Swift will be about twenty times more sensitive to magnetar bursts than any other satellite.

This enquiry project is a cooperative effort between NASA's Marshall Space Flying Center, the National Space Science and Technology Center and several Alabama universities.

For farther information, visit:
http://agile.gsfc. nasa.gov/docs/xte/learning_center/discover_0698.html

NASA's John F. Kennedy Infinite Centre, Marshall Space Flight Center and Goddard Space Flight Center