There are very few stars that are magnetars in the Milky Way, but this type of neutron star has one of the largest magnetic fields in the entire universe.

Neutron stars represent one of the most interesting phenomena in the universe, these have been formed as a result of the explosion of a giant star, a supernova, they are clusters of extremely hot and dense particles, these gather a mass equivalent to our sun in a much smaller diameter, and we do not exaggerate when we say that, because that diameter is only 20KM.

Magnetars are a type of neutron stars that have a great difference with the rest, because they have a large magnetic field, even when they are in their minimum cycle can be a trillion times more powerful than the magnetic field of the earth.

Due to their magnetism, these stars undergo energetic eruptions on their surface. In these eruptions, enormous amounts of X-rays and gamma rays are expelled in short periods of time in a very aggressive manner.

Scientists believe that these eruptions are due to the rupture phenomena at the magnetic poles of this type of star, which generates changes in the star’s dynamics and abrupt modifications in the magnetic field. These disturbances would result in emissions that in many cases equal to one tenth of a second the energy released by our Sun in 100,000 years.

These types of stars have a very short life span, only about 10,000 years; the intensity of their magnetic fields causes a collapse of the star itself. This is because the power of the field itself falls after expelling enormous amounts of energy in the form of X-rays and gamma rays.

The first time this discovery was made during the Cold War in the 1960s, the United States launched a fleet of satellites known as Project Vela to track Russian nuclear activity, but the array of satellites picked up bursts of X-rays and gamma rays coming from space.

It is difficult, since out of 10 supernovae, only one gives rise to a magnetar. And to form a magnetar, the star must have a fast rotation and a high magnetic field.

A fast rotation causes the magnetic field to expand throughout the star and not just in one area. If the field expands too much it will compress its inner matter and give rise to a density that characterizes magnetars.

In 2020, magnetars became relevant, since it was possible to give an explanation to signals that were detected at the beginning of this century, whose origin could not be understood.

Thanks to technological advances, researchers were able to observe several magnetars in the Milky Way, just at the moments of maximum aggressiveness, these bursts confirmed and explained these phenomena, demonstrating their existence.