Astronomers watching a young neutron star explode with X-rays think they've spotted a phenomenon that will help them better understand the life cycles of these incredibly powerful objects.
Neutron stars are the super-dense cores left behind when a massive star explodes as a supernova. They generally emit regular pulses, produced by a rapid spin, giving them the name of "pulsar."
Many of them have strong magnetic fields as well, but a particular kind called magnetars get their energy from extraordinarily powerful magnetic fields – so strong that they can break the star's crust as it spins, producing "starquakes" that release violent bursts of X-ray energy.
Astronomers don't know how the different types of neutron stars are related. But new observations are giving them some ideas.
Researchers have been studying the youngest-known neutron star, apparently created no more than 884 years ago, which was seen to emit hugely powerful X-ray bursts in May and July of 2006. Although the bursts lasted no more than .14 of a second, they each had the energy of about 75,000 of our Suns.
This seemed to be the behavior of a magnetar, although the star (called PSR
J1846) had previously been classified as a regular pulsar. Researchers now think the star may be changing from one form to another, or shifting back and forth, showing a previously unseen evolutionary process for these powerful objects.
A paper on the observations was published in the Feb. 21 issue of Sciencexpress. But scientists will be watching closely to see if this, or any other apparently ordinary pulsar, winds up developing these characteristics again.
Powerful Explosions Suggest Neutron Star Missing Link [NASA]
(Image: An image of the supernova remnant Kes 75, taken by the Chandra
X-Ray Observatory. The pulsar being studied is in the center of the blue area, top. Credit: NASA/CXC/M. Gonzalez/F. Gavriil/P. Slane)
