“With a Little Help From Their Friends,” Magnetars Form in Binary Systems, New Study Suggests

Astronomy is a discipline of extremes. We’re constantly searching for the most powerful, the most explosive, and the most energetic objects in the Universe. Magnetars — extremely dense and highly magnetic neutron stars — are no exception to the rule. They’re the strongest known magnets in the Universe, millions of times more powerful than the strongest magnets on Earth.

But their origin has eluded astronomers for 35 years. Now, an international team of astronomers think they’ve found the partner star of a magnetar for the first time, an observation that suggests magnetars form in binary star systems.

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“But their origin has eluded astronomers for 35 years.”

It has? I think it was about that long ago that I read about their origins in Scientific American.

“Astronomers estimate that this magnetar must have been born in the explosive death of a star about 40 times the mass of the Sun. But this presents its own problem, since stars this massive are expected to collapse to form black holes after their deaths, not neutron stars,”

Ah yes, now I understand. The origins of most magnetars are understood, but the theory of which stars evolve into neutron stars and and which into black holes has been an unsolved puzzle for as long as I can remember.