Scientists Observe First-Ever Magnetar Birth, Confirming Einstein's Century-Old Theory; Object Spins 1000 Times Per Second
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Scientists Witness First-Ever Magnetar Birth, Einstein's Theory Explains Supernova Mystery
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News18•12-03-2026, 19:40
Scientists Witness First-Ever Magnetar Birth, Einstein's Theory Explains Supernova Mystery
•Astronomers observed the birth of a magnetar for the first time from a superluminous supernova, SN 2024afav, in December 2024.
•The supernova, 25 times heavier than the Sun, showed unusual brightness fluctuations with four distinct peaks over 200 days.
•This phenomenon confirmed a 16-year-old theory by Dan Kasen that magnetars power some superluminous supernovae.
•Albert Einstein's General Relativity, specifically Lense-Thirring precession, explained the brightness variations caused by a wobbling accretion disk around the rapidly rotating magnetar.
•Magnetars are powerful neutron stars, 16 km wide, with magnetic fields hundreds of times stronger, rotating over 1000 times per second.
