Magnetar

A magnetar is a type of neutron star believed to have an extremely powerful magnetic field (∼10⁹ to 10¹¹ T, ∼10¹³ to 10¹⁵ G). The magnetic field decay powers the emission of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays. The theory regarding these objects was proposed by Robert Duncan and Christopher Thompson in 1992, but the first recorded burst of gamma rays thought to have been from a magnetar had been detected on March 5, 1979. During the following decade, the magnetar hypothesis became widely accepted as a likely explanation for soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs). On 1 June 2020, astronomers reported narrowing down the source of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), which may now plausably include "compact-object mergers and magnetars arising from normal core collapse supernovae".