Magnetars Facts for Kids

What Is a Magnetar?

A magnetar is a special kind of neutron star with the most powerful magnetic field in the universe — about a quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) times stronger than Earth's!

Neutron Stars — Cosmic Leftovers!

Neutron stars form when massive stars explode as supernovae. The leftover core gets crushed so tightly that protons and electrons merge into neutrons — hence the name!

Meet SGR 1806-20!

SGR 1806-20 is one of the most extreme magnetars ever discovered, located about 50,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. It produced the brightest flash ever observed in our galaxy!

The Giant Flare of 2004!

On December 27, 2004, SGR 1806-20 released a gamma-ray flare so powerful it released more energy in one-tenth of a second than our Sun produces in 150,000 years!

Felt Across the Galaxy!

The 2004 flare from SGR 1806-20 was so powerful that even from 50,000 light-years away, it temporarily affected Earth's ionosphere and disrupted some satellite communications!

Brightest Explosion Since 1604!

The 2004 giant flare was the brightest event observed from outside our solar system since Kepler's Supernova in 1604 — over 400 years earlier!

Unimaginable Magnetism!

A magnetar's magnetic field is about 1,000 times stronger than a regular neutron star's. If you got within 1,000 km, the field would rearrange the atoms in your body!

Deadly Distance!

A magnetar's magnetic field is so strong that at halfway to the Moon, it could erase every credit card on Earth and pull the iron from your blood!

Incredibly Dense!

Neutron stars are so dense that a sugar-cube-sized piece would weigh about a billion tons on Earth — that's roughly the weight of Mount Everest!

City-Sized Star!

Despite containing more mass than our Sun, a neutron star is only about 20 kilometers across — small enough to fit inside a city! SGR 1806-20 packs tremendous power into a tiny package.

Spinning Fast!

SGR 1806-20 rotates about once every 7.5 seconds, which is actually slow for a neutron star. Some neutron stars (called millisecond pulsars) spin hundreds of times per second!

Starquakes!

Magnetar flares are thought to be caused by "starquakes" — the intense magnetic field stresses the neutron star's solid crust until it cracks, releasing an enormous burst of energy!

Soft Gamma Repeater!

SGR stands for "Soft Gamma Repeater" — a type of star that repeatedly releases bursts of gamma rays. Only about 30 magnetars have been discovered in our galaxy!

A Short Cosmic Life!

Magnetars lose their extreme magnetic power after about 10,000 years, which is a blink of an eye in cosmic time. They eventually become regular neutron stars.

What Are Gamma Rays?

Gamma rays are the most energetic form of light — millions of times more energetic than visible light! They're produced by the most violent events in the universe.

Nothing Faster!

The gamma-ray flare from SGR 1806-20 traveled at the speed of light — about 300,000 km per second — taking roughly 50,000 years to reach Earth from across the galaxy!

Magnetic Reconnection!

When a magnetar's twisted magnetic field lines suddenly snap and reconnect, they release massive amounts of energy — similar to what causes solar flares on our Sun, but billions of times more powerful!

Glowing in X-rays!

Even between giant flares, magnetars constantly emit X-rays as their super-strong magnetic field slowly decays, heating the star's surface to millions of degrees.

Fridge Magnets vs Magnetars!

A typical fridge magnet has a field strength of about 0.005 Tesla. A magnetar has a field of about 100 billion Tesla — that's 20 trillion times stronger than your fridge!

Off the Richter Scale!

The 2004 starquake on SGR 1806-20 was estimated to be equivalent to a magnitude 32 earthquake — the Richter scale normally only goes up to about 10!