As I often remark — we are privileged to live in an age when deep space is yielding its secrets to us.
This one, however (with green lines depicting magnetic waves, at right)… will be a puzzle, for just a while longer: why did this magnetar rapidly slow its rotation, emit a wildly-high energy fast radio burst, and then immediately reaccelerate? Its surface revolves at about 7,000 miles an hour, making a complete rotation about every three seconds.
Here’s the Valentine’s mystery — from NASA, tonight:
…[M]agnetars (which are a type of neutron star) are so dense that a teaspoon of their material would weigh about a billion tons on Earth. Such a high density also means a strong gravitational pull: A marshmallow falling onto a typical neutron star would impact with the force of an early atomic bomb.
The strong gravity means the surface of a magnetar is a volatile place, regularly releasing bursts of X-rays and higher-energy light. Before the fast radio burst that occurred in 2022, the magnetar started releasing eruptions of X-rays and gamma rays (even more energetic wavelengths of light)….
[T]he exterior of a magnetar is solid, and the high density crushes the interior into a state called a superfluid. Occasionally, the two can get out of sync, like water sloshing around inside a spinning fishbowl. When this happens, the fluid can deliver energy to the crust. The paper authors think this is likely what caused both glitches that bookended the fast radio burst….
Anyone wish to hazard a guess / theory? Anyone? Bueller? Smile. . . .
Powerline Lies... 