Editing Magnetar

[[file: magnetar.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A magnetar]]

A [[Magnetar]] is a type of [[Neutron Star]] with an extremely powerful magnetic field, the decay of which powers the emission of copious amounts of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly [[X-Rays]] and [[Gamma Rays]]. The first recorded burst of gamma rays thought to have been from a magnetar was detected on March 5, 1979. During the following decade, the magnetar hypothesis became widely accepted as a likely explanation for [[Soft Gamma Repeater]]s (SGRs) and [[Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar]]s (AXPs). [[PX 1354]] is an example of a magnetar.

==Description==

Little is known about the physical structure of a magnetar because they are difficult to study due to inherent dangers from [[Gamma Ray Burst]]s. Magnetars are around 20 kilometres (12 mi) in diameter but are more massive than [[Sol]].  The density of a magnetar is such that a thimbleful of its material would weigh over 100 million tons on Earth. Magnetars also rotate rapidly, with most magnetars completing a rotation once every 1-10 seconds. The active life of a magnetar is short. Their strong magnetic fields decay after about 10,000 years, after which activity and strong X-ray emission cease. Given the number of magnetars observable today, one estimate puts the number of inactive magnetars in the [[Milky Way Galaxy]] at 30 million or more.
Quakes triggered on the surface of the magnetar cause great volatility in the star and the magnetic field which encompasses it, often leading to extremely powerful [[Gamma Ray Flare]] emissions which have been recorded.
==Magnetic Field==
Magnetars are primarily characterized by their extremely powerful magnetic field, which can often reach the order of ten [[Gigatesla]]s. These magnetic fields are hundreds of thousands of times stronger than any man-made magnet, and quadrillions of times more powerful than Earth's magnetic field. They are  currently the most magnetic objects ever detected in the universe.
A magnetic field of 10 gigateslas is enormous relative to magnetic fields typically encountered on Earth. Earth has a [[Geomagnetic]] field of 30–60 microteslas, and a [[Neodymium|Neodymium-based]] rare earth magnet has a field of about 1 tesla, with a magnetic energy density of 4.0×105 J/m3. A 10 gigatesla field, by contrast, has an energy density of 4.0×1025 J/m3, with an E/c2 mass density >104 times that of lead. The magnetic field of a magnetar would be lethal even at a distance of 1000 km, tearing tissues due to the [[Diamagnetism]]  of water. 
Remarkable things happen within a magnetic field of magnetar strength. " X-ray photons readily split in two or merge together. The vacuum itself is polarized, becoming strongly [[Birefingent]], like a calcite crystal. Atoms are deformed into long cylinders thinner than the quantum-relativistic [[Wavelength]] of an electron." In a field of about 105 teslas [[atomic orbital]]s deform into rod shapes. At 1010 teslas, a hydrogen atom becomes a spindle 200 times narrower than its normal diameter.
==Formation==
When, in a [[Supernova]], a star collapses to a neutron star, its magnetic field increases dramatically in strength. Halving a linear dimension increases the magnetic field fourfold. Duncan and Thompson calculated that the magnetic field of a neutron star, normally an already enormous 108 [[Tesla]]s could, through the [[Dynamo Mechanism]], grow even larger, to more than 1011 teslas (or 1015 [[Gauss]]). The result is a magnetar.
The supernova might lose 10% of its mass in the explosion. In order for such large stars (10 to 30 solar masses) not to collapse directly into a [[Black Hole]], they have to shed a larger proportion of their mass— perhaps another 80%. It is estimated that about one in ten supernova explosions results in a magnetar rather than a more standard neutron star or [[Pulsar]].



[[Category: Stars and Stellar Phenomenon]][[ Category: Science]]