Published 06:38 IST, June 18th 2020
NASA scientists discover remarkable cosmic baby—a 240-year-old neutron star
NASA astronomers have discovered a very rare neutron star, known as Swift J1818.0−1607, which is a veritable newborn by cosmic standards.
US Astronomers have discovered a very rare remarkable neutron star which is known as Swift J1818.0−1607 and is estimated to be about 240 years old. A new study published in the Astrophysical Journal confirms that the terrestrial body is a veritable newborn by cosmic standards. The study added that NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory spotted the young object on March 12, when it released a massive burst of X-rays. The European Space Agency's XMM-Newton observatory and NASA's NuSTAR telescope did a follow up study which is led by Caltech and managed by the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which revealed the cosmic baby's physical characteristics.
About the neutron star
As per NASA's website, "A neutron star is an incredibly dense nugget of stellar material left over after a massive star goes supernova and explodes. In fact, they're some of the densest objects in the universe (second only to black holes): A teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh 4 billion tons on Earth. The atoms inside a neutron star are smashed together so tightly, they behave in ways not found anywhere else. Swift J1818.0−1607 packs twice the mass of our Sun into a volume more than one trillion times smaller."
It added, "With a magnetic field up to 1,000 times stronger than a typical neutron star — and about 100 million times stronger than the most powerful magnets made by humans — Swift J1818.0−1607 belongs to a special class of objects called magnetars, which are the most magnetic objects in the universe. And it appears to be the youngest magnetar ever discovered. If its age is confirmed, that means light from the stellar explosion that formed it would have reached Earth around the time that George Washington became the first president of the United States."
Image: ANI
Updated 06:38 IST, June 18th 2020