NASA tracks ultra-rare Neutron star so powerful it could shred a human from 600 miles away, and no one knows where it came from
NASA
is focused on a terrifying
cosmic enigma
. This rare
neutron star
, known as a "
magnetar
," has powers straight out of a science fiction film, and it's unlike anything scientists have ever seen. The most perplexing part is that nobody knows exactly how or where it was formed.
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How dangerous is this star, really?
NASA is now monitoring SGR 0501+4516, a rare and dangerously powerful neutron star capable of tearing apart a human from 600 miles away, as quoted in a report by The Express.
Owing to its extreme rarity, the neutron star is believed to be one of only 30 in the Milky Way's total population of about 100 billion stars.
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NASA claims that the object, which has been given the catchy name SGR 0501+4516, has "comic-book-hero superpowers," such as a magnetic field that is "about a trillion times more powerful than Earth's magnetosphere."
This means that if the object passed Earth at a distance of roughly half that of the Moon, it would destroy every credit card on the planet, as per a report by The Express.
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What makes magnetars so rare?
Magnetars are special because of their intense magnetic fields.
According to a NASA press release, "the magnetar would turn into a literal sci-fi death-ray, tearing apart every atom inside the body, if a human got within 600 miles."
It is thought that magnetar are created when a star explodes as a supernova and collapses to form an extremely dense neutron star. They are occasionally called "
zombie stars
."
"Magnetars are neutron stars, the dead remnants of stars. composed entirely of neutrons," explained Ashley Chrimes, lead author of the discovery paper that was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on April 15, as quoted in a report by The Express.
How did this rare star originate?
The Hubble Space Telescope made the initial observation of the object in 2008. It seemed to have been created by a nearby supernova at the time.
However, a ten-year analysis of its movement revealed that this couldn't be true, indicating that it must either be older than its estimated 20,000-year age or have formed in a different way, as per a report by The Express.
According to scientific theories, SGR 0501+4516 might have formed by accretion-induced collapse, in which a white dwarf absorbs gas from a nearby star, grows too massive to sustain itself, and crashes.
This may help to explain the enigmatic fast radio bursts that are occasionally detected in deep space.
FAQs
What makes this star particularly dangerous?
Its magnetic field is so strong that it could rip a human apart from hundreds of miles away, and even destroy credit cards on Earth if it got too close.
Where does this star come from?
Scientists aren't sure yet, but it could have formed from a rare collapse of a white dwarf.
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