"We know that magnetars exist because we see them in our galaxy. We think most of them are formed in the explosive deaths of massive stars, leaving these highly magnetized neutron stars behind. However, it is possible that a small fraction form in neutron star mergers. We have never seen evidence of that before, let alone in infrared light, making this discovery special," said Northwestern University astrophysicist Wen-fai Fong, who led the research.
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00:00Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a massive gamma ray burst released more energy in a
00:09half second than our sun will ever produce.
00:11In May of 2020, light from that stellar explosion finally reached Earth.
00:15Now an astrophysics team from Northwestern University believes we have witnessed the
00:19birth of a magnetar for the very first time.
00:22Magnetars are the most magnetic objects in the universe, according to NASA.
00:26These magnetic monsters have been observed but are poorly understood, and astronomers
00:29have never seen one being born.
00:32Scientists believe the magnetar was created in a neutron star collision.
00:35The event, called GRB 200522A, produced a characteristic afterglow known as a kilonova,
00:41the brightest ever seen.
00:44Astrophysicist Wen-Fai Fong, who led the research, told LiveScience,
00:46I can count on my hands the number of kilonovas that have been discovered from short gamma
00:50ray bursts, but this was ten times brighter than any of those.
00:54A rapidly spinning neutron star with massive magnetic fields, aka a magnetar, might explain
00:59such a bright kilonova.
01:00The magnetar's powerful magnetic field would have stirred up the energized kilonova particles,
01:05making them glow bright.
01:06Assuming the team is correct, future observations should reveal radio emissions from the site.
01:10The findings were published in the Astrophysical Journal.