central object surrounded by fluffy disk, with two jets emerging perpendicular to the disk

Astronomy & Observing News

Super-Bright Supernovae Are Birth Cries of Magnetars

The disk of gas that spirals onto a newborn magnetar wobbles, creating "bumps" in the brightness of the supernova that accompanied this object's birth.

In the primary composite image of this release, the curious object is shown in the context of the supernova remnant and nearby gas clouds. Radio data is red and X-ray sources seen with Chandra are in dark blue. The supernova remnant is the large, wispy, red oval ring occupying the lower right of the image. The curious object sits inside this ring, to our right of center; a tiny purple speck in a sea of colorful specks. The gas cloud shows infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and resembles a mottled green, teal blue, and golden orange cloud occupying our upper left half of the square image.

Astronomy & Observing News

Mystery Object in the Milky Way

Astronomers have found X-rays coming from a strange object that releases regular bursts of radio waves, shedding new light on what that object might be. 

Magnetar getting ready to launch an FRB

Astronomy & Observing News

Priceless Flares: Magnetars Can Make Gold and Platinum

An almost forgotten observation made 20 years ago provides evidence that magnetars create some of the heaviest nuclei in the universe.

Giant flare on a magnetar

Astronomy & Observing News

Milky Way Magnetar Spits Gamma Rays on Schedule

A Milky Way magnetar surprises astronomers by burping up gamma rays right when their predictions anticipated.