Astronomers Discover First Magnetar Flare Outside the Milky Way

Astronomers Discover First Magnetar Flare Outside the Milky Way

Astronomers recently made a groundbreaking discovery: a magnetic star outside our Milky Way galaxy. This remarkable find occurred after a sudden burst of energy in the galaxy M82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, located approximately 12 million light-years away from Earth.

This newfound star, identified as a magnetar, is a dense remnant of a once-bright star with an extraordinarily strong magnetic field. Magnetars, often described as the universe's most powerful magnets, are rapidly spinning neutron stars, remnants of supernova explosions, that shine thousands of times brighter than the sun. However, their eruptions are fleeting and unpredictable, making them challenging to study.

The detection of this extragalactic magnetar is significant because it could be the first of many such stars beyond our galaxy. Only three other magnetar flares have been recorded in the past half-century, so this discovery opens avenues for further research into these enigmatic celestial objects.

The breakthrough came when the European Space Agency's Integral telescope detected a brief flare of gamma rays emanating from M82 in mid-November 2023. Follow-up observations confirmed that the burst originated from a magnetar within the galaxy, rather than from other known sources of gamma-ray bursts, such as black hole births or neutron star mergers.

This magnetar's eruption, or "starquake," occurred when its intense magnetic fields disrupted its outer layers, emitting highly energetic gamma rays across the universe. Follow-up observations, conducted a few hours later with ground- and space-based telescopes, provided compelling evidence of the magnetar's existence.

This discovery expands our understanding of magnetars and their occurrence beyond our galaxy. While three magnetars have been identified within the Milky Way, this newfound magnetar in M82 offers unique insights into the properties and behavior of these exotic cosmic objects.

In summary, the detection of a magnetar outside the Milky Way marks a significant milestone in astrophysical research, shedding light on the prevalence and behavior of these magnetic stars beyond our galactic neighborhood.