A team of astronomers claims it has observed the birth of an unusual cosmic object. In an observation of a gamma-ray captured in 2023, they believe they have detected a signal that is comparable to the \u201cfirst heartbeat of a newborn star.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team, led by astronomer Run-Chao Chen of Nanjing University in China, believes their observation represents the very first signs of life of a magnetar \u2013 a type of neutron star that is the most magnetically extreme object in the known universe. <\/p>\n
Detecting the \u2018heartbeat\u2019 of a magnetar <\/p>\n
Magnetars are incredibly powerful cosmic objects. According to NASA<\/a>, they have \u201cmagnetic fields a thousand times stronger than ordinary neutron stars that measure a million billion Gauss, or about a hundred-trillion refrigerator magnets. For comparison, the Sun\u2019s magnetic field is only about 5 Gauss.\u201d<\/p>\n Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic and luminous explosions in the universe. However, they are fleeting and often only last for a matter of milliseconds. The 2023 GRB, designated GRB 230307A, was caused by the collision of two stars in a distant galaxy. It lasted for an unusually long \u2013 by GRB standards \u2013 200 seconds.<\/p>\n The team of researchers, from the University of Hong Kong, Nanjing University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pored over more than 600,000 datasets for their study. These were collected by China\u2019s GECAM satellites and NASA\u2019s Fermi satellite. <\/p>\n The scientists detailed the results of their observations in a paper<\/a> published in the journal Nature Astronomy. They detected a repeated, consistent signal over several observations. For a mere 160 milliseconds, a periodic gamma-ray fluctuation appeared in the light of the event. The incredibly faint signal was consistent with the rapid spin of a newborn magnetar.<\/p>\n