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By observing the dance of this odd couple, astronomers calculated that this world must be incredibly dense - four times denser than Earth, which is the densest planet in our solar system. Features OVER the past decade, spacecraft have beamed back reports from some truly awe-inspiring destinations within our solar system. Sculptor dwarf galaxy Witness a proxy for the early universe The Sculptor dwarf galaxy appears as a gossamer of galactic fluff on the outskirts of the Milky Way - taking us to the furthest and final stop on our tour. PSR J1719-1438 b Goggle at a diamond planet When is a planet not a planet?. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the life cycle of a neutron star, specifically focusing on the formation of a millisecond magnetar. It describes the birth of massive stars in a spiral galaxy and explains how a magnetar is formed through the collapse of a massive star's core. The article discusses the magnetar's role in creating a supernova and its subsequent evolution into a pulsar. It also mentions the magnetar's eventual trajectory away from its birthplace. The text then discusses the hypothetical life cycle of a neutron star, referred to as "MM," including stages such as merging with another neutron star and creating a binary system. The article acknowledges that while MM's story is fantastical, it is not impossible for a neutron star to experience these events. It concludes by emphasizing the significance of neutron stars in the universe and the potential for future discoveries in this field. [Extracted from the article]

CHIME's catalog includes large numbers of FRBs from a variety of galaxies, muddying the link to magnetars, which emerge almost exclusively in galaxies that are churning out massive, short-lived stars. Further complicating the magnetar picture is another curiosity: FRB 20180916B, also known as R3 because it was the third repeating FRB ever discovered. And if such a collision produced a magnetar, could the initial cataclysmic one-off FRB give rise to a distinct, repeating FRB source?. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the discovery and subsequent exploration of fast radio bursts (FRBs), initially observed by astronomer Duncan Lorimer in 2007. It mentions that the existence of FRBs was met with skepticism until further bursts were detected, leading to investigations into their origins, including the possibility of magnetars as the source. The dispersion measure of FRBs and the use of multiple telescopes to pinpoint their locations are also included in the article.

Fast radio bursts from across the cosmos have perplexed us for over a decade. Now we might know what they are, says Daniel Cossins [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists have observed a "dead" neutron star, known as a magnetar, with an extremely powerful magnetic field unexpectedly coming back to life. This reactivation is not in line with current understanding of these celestial objects. The magnetar, XTE J1810-197, located 8,000 light years away, was detected emitting circularly polarized light, which is unprecedented. Neutron stars, including magnetars, are formed when massive stars die and collapse, resulting in a dense core with a powerful magnetic field. The researchers hope that further observations of XTE J1810-197 will provide insights into various magnetar-related phenomena. [Extracted from the article]

While magnetars may be the most prolific FRB producers, bursts from magnetars such as SGR 1935+2154 are unlikely to account for all observed FRBs, for several reasons. Low-frequency observations are the next big thing in FRB research, because they're more sensitive to how the magnetized, ionized gas between us and an FRB source affects the signal as it travels. Second, the rate of FRB-like bursts from this kind of magnetar in the local universe is not high enough to explain the observed FRB rate. This finding provides the "smoking gun" demonstrating that these exotic objects can indeed produce some FRBs, and it bridges the energy gap between neutron stars in the Milky Way and FRBs far beyond it. [Extracted from the article]

A quiz concerning recent space technology developments including Indian Space Research Organisation' (ISRO) X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite launch, Aditya-L1 mission's trajectory correction, and technology firm Google's Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Maps features in India.

A recent discovery of a fast radio burst (FRB) located 9 billion light-years away has intrigued astronomers. This FRB is not only the farthest one observed so far, but it is also unique because it appears as a "blob" rather than a well-defined host galaxy. Further observations using the Hubble Space Telescope revealed that the blob consists of one large dwarf galaxy surrounded by six smaller dwarf galaxies, all likely to merge into one galaxy. This finding supports the leading theory that FRBs originate from magnetars, highly magnetic and fast-spinning neutron stars, and suggests a connection between FRBs and recent star formation triggered by galaxy mergers. [Extracted from the article]

In 1998, a new giant SGR flare allowed them to draw all the available observational evidence together; as it faded, it fluctuated in rhythm with the pulsar's slowing spin, establishing the magnetar-SGR relationship once and for all. A Magnetar Is Born Neutron stars - including magnetars - are apparently perfect spheres of dense matter, packing the mass of a star into an object between 16 and 32 kilometers (10 to 20 miles) wide. PHOTO (COLOR): SNEAKY MAGNETAR SGR 0418+5729 long appeared to have a surprisingly weak magnetic field for a magnetar. 10% Minimum fraction of young neutron stars that are magnetars PHOTO (COLOR): TWISTED UP Magnetars have intense magnetic fields that can suddenly rearrange, releasing particles and radiation as flares. [Extracted from the article]

FEATURES GLO:ast/01oct21:40n1.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): Neutron stars are the perfect cosmic laboratory for the scientists who study them, thanks to their observability, extreme gravity, and strong magnetic fields. The fastest spinning neutron star - the previously mentioned PSR J1748-244ad - is actually a pulsar or, more precisely, a millisecond pulsar. Pulsars stand out because of their clocklike radiation pulses. gl ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY GLO:ast/01oct21:45n1.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): The youngest, fastest spinning magnetar - Swift J1818.01607, seen in X-rays (purple) in this composite image - is located about 21,000 light-years away. gl GLO:ast/01oct21:46n1.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): A binary pair of neutron stars begin their gravitational death dance in this artist's concept. Magnetars: The more magnetic cousins While pulsars may be the most reliable neutron stars, magnetars are the troublemakers of the family. [Extracted from the article]

A recent discovery by astronomers has revealed the fastest ever fast radio bursts (FRBs) from outside our galaxy. FRBs are short bursts of electromagnetic radiation that typically come from outside our galaxy and last for a fraction of a second to a few seconds. Scientists have found evidence that some of these bursts come from magnetars, dense neutron stars with strong magnetic fields. By analyzing 30 minutes of data from the Green Bank Telescope, researchers have detected eight ultrafast FRBs that lasted just ten-millionths of a second or less, making them the fastest bursts ever detected. This discovery confirms the existence of ultrafast FRBs and opens up possibilities for further research, although finding more of these bursts may be challenging. [Extracted from the article]

According to models, HD 45166 has the right combination of mass and magnetic field to one day go supernova and leave behind such a highly magnetic neutron star. SOME 3,000 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY in the southern constellation Monoceros lies a peculiar star in the binary system HD 45166. "We've never detected a magnetic field in a massive helium star that will undergo core collapse", says Tomer Shenar, first author of the new study and an astronomer at the University of Amsterdam. [Extracted from the article]

But this object produces powerful five-minute-long bursts of radiation every 21 to 22 minutes, which would make it the longest-period magnetar ever detected, and raises questions about how magnetars form and evolve. If it is, Hurley- Walker's team suspects it's a special type of magnetar whose emission is powered by a twisted magnetic field. There are only a dozen known magnetars, and astronomers still don't know the specific conditions that create magnetars versus run-of-the-mill neutron stars. [Extracted from the article]

The article looks at a research from Mohit Bhardwaj at McGill University in Canada which found thousands of mysterious radio signals flash across the universe and neutron stars with particularly strong magnetic fields, known as magnetars or perhaps binary stars interacting in unusual ways.

The article discusses research that tracked a fast radio burst (FRB) back to its source. In April 2020, astronomers found an FRB coming from within the galaxy. Several teams of researchers examined the area where it arose and found that bursts originated from a magnetar called SGR 1935+2154. The research provides the first evidence that magnetars can produce radio waves at high enough energies to account for the signals.

The article reports that strange fast radio wave burst signals have been observed in the galaxy. Topics include the identification of flashes of radio waves in galaxy and appear to be connected to neutron stars called magnetars that have powerful magnetic fields; and FRBs are powerful blasts of radio waves that last just a few milliseconds.

Mysterious signals from space could come from a spinning star [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes unexpected astronomic events seen by astronomers monitoring the massive black hole called Sgr A* at the center of the Milky Way. Topics covered include the dusty object called G2 as it nears the black hole, two bright X-ray flares released by Sgr A*and theories of observers about a magnetar or pulsar that orbit the blackhole with great magnetic field. Also mentioned are the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) for exploring spacetime and tests on general relativity.

The star, lodged in the southern sky and associated with the famous Carina Nebula, erupted onto the scene almost magically, nearly 200 years ago, mimicking a supernova, and became the second brightest star in the sky. FROM THE EDITOR Our galaxy is filled with tiny, dim stars. Our Sun, the star we're used to, is a G-type yellowishwhite orb; stars of its mass and type represent perhaps 8 percent of the Milky Way's suns. [Extracted from the article]

We study the magnetic field generation in a neutron star within the model based on the magnetic field instability in the nuclear matter owing to the electron-nucleon parity violating interaction. We suggest that the growing magnetic field takes the energy from thermal background fermions in the neutron star matter. The system of kinetic equations for the spectra of the magnetic helicity density and magnetic energy density as well as the chiral imbalance are solved numerically accounting for this energy source. We obtain that, for the initial conditions corresponding to a typical neutron star, the large scale magnetic field ~1015 G is generated during (104-105) yr. We suggest that the proposed model describes strong magnetic fields observed in magnetars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the possibility of homogeneous nucleation of quark matter in magnetars, we investigate the formation of chirally symmetric droplets in a cold and dense environment in the presence of an external magnetic field. As a framework, we use the one-loop effective potential of the two-flavor quark-meson model. Within the thin-wall approximation, we extract all relevant nucleation parameters and provide an estimate for the typical time scales for the chiral phase conversion in magnetized compact star matter. We show how the critical chemical potential, critical radius, correlation length and surface tension are affected, and how their combination to define the nucleation time seems to allow for nucleation of quark droplets in magnetar matter even for not so small values of the surface tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate properties of strange quark matter in the framework of the SU(3) Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with vector interactions under strong magnetic fields. The effects of vector-isoscalar and vector-isovector interactions on the equation of state of strange quark matter are investigated, and it is found that the equation of state is not sensitive to the vector-isovector interaction; however, a repulsive interaction in the vector-isoscalar channel gives a stiffer equation of state for cold dense quark matter. In the presence of a magnetic field, gluons will be magnetized via quark loops, and the contribution from magnetized gluons to the equation of state is also estimated. The sound velocity square is a quantity to measure the hardness or softness of dense quark matter, and in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model without vector interaction at zero magnetic field, the sound velocity square is always less than 1/3. It is found that a repulsive vector-isoscalar interaction and a positive pressure contribution from magnetized gluons can enhance the sound velocity square, which can even reach 1. To construct quark magnetars under strong magnetic fields, we consider anisotropic pressures and use a density-dependent magnetic field profile to mimic the magnetic field distribution in a quark star. We also analyze the parameter region for the magnitude of vector-isoscalar interaction and the contribution from magnetized gluons in order to produce two-solar-mass quark magnetars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum seen as an increase of temperature due to a strong magnetic field are determined and their influence on the polarization of the radiation is exhibited. The effect is due to the coupling of the CMB photons to the magnetic field in the QED vacuum via the interaction with virtual pairs. In spite of the fact that the distortion of the CMB spectrum for magnetic fields that exist in the vicinity of magnetars is quite large, this effect is very difficult to detect at present because the required angular resolutions is not yet available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists hope to find and study additional magnetar flares with StarBurst, a small gamma-raydetecting satellite in development as part of NASA's Astrophysics Pioneers program. GAMMA-RAY BURSTS HIGHLY MAGNETIZED neutron stars can produce powerful flares that masquerade as short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), astronomers argue, after find-ing another GRB associated with a magnetar. [Extracted from the article]

A pulsar's rotation period and the slowdown of its spin relate to the strength of the pulsar's magnetic field, which accelerates subatomic particles streaming from the star and, in turn, generates radio waves. News Astronomers have added a new species to the neutron star zoo, showcasing the wide diversity among the compact magnetic remains of dead, once-massive stars. The estimated strength of the pulsar's magnetic field is incredibly strong and similar to that of a type of neutron star called a magnetar. [Extracted from the article]

Radiation may be emitted by a never-before-seen kind of neutron star, known as a long-period magnetar, shown in this artist's concept. And in fact, some of this behavior is why many astronomers believe magnetars are the cause of fast radio bursts (FRBs), sudden and intense explosions of radiation. [Extracted from the article]

The quantum electrodynamical (QED) process of Compton scattering in strong magnetic fields is commonly invoked in atmospheric and inner magnetospheric models of x-ray and soft gamma-ray emission in high-field pulsars and magnetars. A major influence of the field is to introduce resonances at the cyclotron frequency and its harmonics, where the incoming photon accesses thresholds for the creation of virtual electrons or positrons in intermediate states with excited Landau levels. At these resonances, the effective cross section typically exceeds the classical Thomson value by over 2 orders of magnitude. Near and above the quantum critical magnetic field of 44.13 TeraGauss, relativistic corrections must be incorporated when computing this cross section. This profound enhancement underpins the anticipation that resonant Compton scattering is a very efficient process in the environs of highly magnetized neutron stars. This paper presents formalism for the QED magnetic Compton differential cross section valid for both subcritical and supercritical fields, yet restricted to scattered photons that are below pair creation threshold. Calculations are developed for the particular case of photons initially propagating along the field, and in the limit of zero vacuum dispersion, mathematically simple specializations that are germane to interactions involving relativistic electrons frequently found in neutron star magnetospheres. This exposition of relativistic, quantum, magnetic Compton cross sections treats electron spin dependence fully, since this is a critical feature for describing the finite decay lifetimes of the intermediate states. Such lifetimes are introduced to truncate the resonant cyclotronic divergences via standard Lorentz profiles. The formalism employs both the traditional Johnson and Lippmann (JL) wave functions and the Sokolov and Ternov (ST) electron eigenfunctions of the magnetic Dirac equation. The ST states are formally correct for self-consistently treating spin-dependent effects that are so important in the resonances. It is found that the values of the polarization-dependent differential cross section depend significantly on the choice of ST or JL eigenstates when in the fundamental resonance but not outside of it, a characteristic that is naturally expected. Relatively compact analytic forms for the cross sections are presented that will prove useful for astrophysical modelers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the issue of whether a magnetic field can be amplified in a background matter consisting of electrons and positrons self-interacting within the Fermi model. For this purpose, we compute the antisymmetric contribution to the photon polarization tensor in this matter having nonzero temperature and chemical potential. It is shown that this contribution is vanishing in the static limit. Then we study a particular case of a degenerate relativistic electron gas present in a magnetar. We demonstrate that a seed magnetic field is attenuated in this case. Thus, contrary to the recent claim, we show that there is no magnetic field instability in such a system, which can lead to the magnetic field growth. Therefore, the recently proposed mechanism cannot be used for the explanation of strong magnetic fields of magnetars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article report that the Astronomers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) and CSIRO have just observed bizarre, never-seen-before behavior from a ‘radio-loud' magnetar. It mentions tat their new findings, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), suggest magnetars have more complex magnetic fields than previously thought, which may challenge theories of how they are born and evolve over time.

The article reports that astronomers have seen flaring magnetars in the Milky Way, but those are so bright that it's impossible to get a good look at them.

The article reports on a study by astronomer Franz Kirsten and colleagues published in "Nature" which found that the source of a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) signal being observed for several months in 2021 came from a globular cluster of stars in a galaxy 12 million light-years from Earth. Topics include the study's assumption that one source of the FRB must be magnetars and the team's conclusion about the type of formation of these magnetars.

Radio astronomers are puzzling over odd signals coming from the central region of our Milky Way galaxy, which match nothing they have seen before. The radio source, designated ASKAP J173608.2-321635, first showed up during a survey using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (hence the source name ASKAP; the numbers are position coordinates) that was searching specifically for time-varying objects. Pulsars - rapidly spinning neutron stars - brighten regularly every few seconds or so, but the new radio source shows no such underlying regularity or rapidity. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses an Aerobee sounding rocket with an onboard X-ray detector cracked the atmosphere in 1962. Topics include how Astronomer Edward Spiegel coined the term "blazar" in 1978 to describe strange, rare objects; and numerous satellites for Earth and as far out as Venus detected a sudden burst of gamma.

Magnetars have been proposed as sources of gravitational waves, potentially observable by current and future terrestrial gravitational-wave detectors. In this paper, we calculate the stochastic gravitational wave background generated by summing the contributions from all magnetars in the Universe, and we study its accessibility to the second- and third-generation gravitational-wave detector networks. We perform systematic scans of the parameter space in this model, allowing the magnetic field, the ellipticity, the initial period, and the rate of magnetars to vary over the currently believed range of values. We also consider different proposed configurations of the magnetic field (poloidal, toroidal, and twisted torus) and different proposed star-formation histories. We identify regions in the parameter space of poloidal and toroidal models that will be accessible to the second- and third-generation gravitational-wave detectors and conclude that the twisted-torus models are likely out of reach of these detectors. The poloidal field configuration with a type II superconductor equation of state in the interior, or with a highly disordered magnetic field, and the toroidal configuration with a very strong toroidal magnetic field in the interior (> 1016 G) are the most promising in terms of gravitational-wave detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The background of gravitational waves produced by the ensemble of rotating neutron stars (which includes pulsars, magnetars, and gravitars) is investigated. A formula for Ω(f) (a function that is commonly used to quantify the background, and is directly related to its energy density) is derived, without making the usual assumption that each radiating system evolves on a short time scale compared to the Hubble time; the time evolution of the systems since their formation until the present day is properly taken into account. Moreover, the formula allows one to distinguish the different parts of the background: the unresolvable (which forms a stochastic background or confusion noise, since the waveforms composing it cannot be either individually observed or subtracted out of the data of a detector) and the resolvable. Several estimations of the background are obtained, for different assumptions on the parameters that characterize neutron stars and their population. In particular, different initial spin period distributions lead to very different results. For one of the models, with slow initial spins, the detection of the background by present or planned detectors can be rejected. However, other models do predict the detection of the background, that would be unresolvable, by the future ground-based gravitational wave detector ET. A robust upper limit for the background of rotating neutron stars is obtained; it does not exceed the detection threshold of two cross-correlated Advanced LIGO interferometers. If gravitars exist and constitute more than a few percent of the neutron star population, then they produce an unresolvable background that could be detected by ET. Under the most reasonable assumptions on the parameters characterizing a neutron star, the background is too faint to be detected. Previous papers have suggested neutron star models in which large magnetic fields (like the ones that characterize magnetars) induce big deformations in the star, which produce a stronger emission of gravitational radiation. Considering the most optimistic (in terms of the detection of gravitational waves) of these models, an upper limit for the background produced by magnetars is obtained; it could be detected by ET, but not by BBO or DECIGO. Simple approximate formulas to characterize both the total and the unresolvable backgrounds are given for the ensemble of rotating neutron stars, and, for completion, also for the ensemble of binary star systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, we focus on building simple nonperturbative analytical relativistic models of magnetars. With this purpose in mind, we first develop a method for generating exact interior solutions to the static and axisymmetric Einstein-Maxwell-hydrodynamic equations with anisotropic perfect fluid and with pure poloidal magnetic field. Then, using an explicit exact solution, we present a simple magnetar model and calculate some physically interesting quantities as the surface ellipticity and the total energy of the magnetized star. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stellar winds should absorb more lowerfrequency radio waves than higher-frequency ones, so astronomers expected that the bursts LOFAR observed (down to 110 megahertz) would be visible over a narrower time window than the ones WSRT witnessed (around 1.4 gigahertz). However, simultaneous observations of the source by the International Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) and the 14-dish Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) in the Netherlands challenge the binary-wind scenario. FAST RADIO BURSTS MOST ASTRONOMERS AGREE that the brief flashes known as fast radio bursts (FRBs) probably come from highly magnetized neutron stars (aka magnetars; S&T: Sept. 2020, p. 10). [Extracted from the article]

After the detection of gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences, the search for transient gravitational-wave signals with less well-defined waveforms for which matched filtering is not well suited is one of the frontiers for gravitational-wave astronomy. Broadly classified into "short" ≲1  s and "long" ≳1  s duration signals, these signals are expected from a variety of astrophysical processes, including non-axisymmetric deformations in magnetars or eccentric binary black hole coalescences. In this work, we present a search for long-duration gravitational-wave transients from Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo's third observing run from April 2019 to March 2020. For this search, we use minimal assumptions for the sky location, event time, waveform morphology, and duration of the source. The search covers the range of 2-500 s in duration and a frequency band of 24-2048 Hz. We find no significant triggers within this parameter space; we report sensitivity limits on the signal strength of gravitational waves characterized by the root-sum-square amplitude hrss as a function of waveform morphology. These hrss limits improve upon the results from the second observing run by an average factor of 1.8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SHIVERING MOON Icequakes may be constantly rippling across the frozen surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus, caused by tides in the world's subsurface water ocean. EXTRA NEUTRONS For the first time, astronomers have measured two isotopes of the same element in an exoplanet atmosphere - carbon-12 and its variant with an extra neutron, carbon-13. The Hubble Space Telescope suffered a computer memory error June 13 that put the observatory into safe mode. [Extracted from the article]

The article offers information on discovery of superbright blast of radio waves, called a fast radio burst, originating within the Milky Way. Topics discussed include observation of a smoking gun that magnetars are behind at least some of the extragalactic fast radio bursts; radio outburst from a young, active magnetar; and information on burst that was brighter than any flash of radio waves.

The team's results suggest that ultimately, magnetars could be "the natural end product" of mergers between main sequence - as well as younger, pre-main sequence - stars, Schneider says. "The biggest and yet-unsolved question", he says, "is whether the magnetic field produced in the merger can survive up to the supernova stage, and then whether the magnetic field is indeed maintained in the forming neutron star when the core of the star collapses". That has yet to be determined, Schneider says, "but I think our suggestion is a very promising channel to finally understand the origin of magnetars and their strong magnetic fields". [Extracted from the article]

We simulate neutrino-antineutrino oscillations caused by strong magnetic fields in dense matter. With the strong magnetic fields and large neutrino magnetic moments, Majorana neutrinos can reach flavor equilibrium. We find that the flavor equilibration of neutrino-antineutrino oscillations are sensitive to the values of the baryon density and the electron fraction inside the matter. The neutrino-antineutrino oscillations are suppressed in the case of the large baryon density in neutron- (proton)-rich matter. On the other hand, the flavor equilibration occurs when the electron fraction is close to 0.5 even in the large baryon density. From the simulations, we propose a necessary condition for the equilibration of neutrino-antineutrino oscillations in dense matter. We also study whether such a necessary condition is satisfied near the protoneutron star by using results of neutrino hydrodynamic simulations of core-collapse supernovae. In our explosion model, the flavor equilibration would be possible if the magnetic field on the surface of the protoneutron star were larger than 1014 G, which is the typical value of the magnetic fields of magnetars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only five magnetars, including J1818, have been seen exhibiting such radio-loud behavior, which resembles that of pulsars - fast-spinning neutron stars that emit powerful beams of radio waves from their poles. However, astronomers have only identified 31 magnetars out of the 3,000 or so known neutron stars. [Extracted from the article]

TWO NEUTRON STARS don't always make a black hole, new observations appear to show. But the fading afterglow of one such burst, GRB 200522A, suggests that a highly magnetized neutron star, or magnetar, has survived one of these violent collisions. [Extracted from the article]

While scientists expect most neutron star mergers to result in black holes, recent findings suggest some mergers could instead form a magnetar. This is surprising because, until now, scientists had believed a neutron star merger formed an unstable, heavy neutron star that only lasted for a few milliseconds before collapsing into a black hole. However, these findings suggest that at least some magnetars can form during neutron star mergers - something astronomers had never seen before. [Extracted from the article]