by The briefest, brightest explosions in the universe may be triggered when unlucky asteroids smash into collapsed stars, new research suggests.
For years, astronomers have been puzzled by a type of extremely powerful explosion known as a fast radio burst (FRB).
These bursts occur randomly throughout the sky, last only a few milliseconds and represent some of the most powerful explosions in the universe.
But in 2020, astronomers caught a lucky break when they discovered an FRB in our own galaxy. Follow-up observations located the source of the FRB: a magnetar.
Magnetars are a special kind of neutron star (an ultradense remnant of a gigantic, exploded star), and they have the strongest magnetic fields in the universe.
The strongest magnetars have magnetic fields quadrillions of times stronger than Earth's.
Source
For years, astronomers have been puzzled by a type of extremely powerful explosion known as a fast radio burst (FRB).
These bursts occur randomly throughout the sky, last only a few milliseconds and represent some of the most powerful explosions in the universe.
But in 2020, astronomers caught a lucky break when they discovered an FRB in our own galaxy. Follow-up observations located the source of the FRB: a magnetar.
Magnetars are a special kind of neutron star (an ultradense remnant of a gigantic, exploded star), and they have the strongest magnetic fields in the universe.
The strongest magnetars have magnetic fields quadrillions of times stronger than Earth's.
Source
