Aug. 16 – An Italian research team recently published its findings in the scientific journal Nature. Their paper sheds light on some aspects of the skies’ most mysterious stars, magnetars, generated by the collapse of giant stars and home to the most intense magnetic fields of the universe. Their research allowed for the first time to measure the magnetic field of magnetar SGR 0418+5729, 6500 light years away from the solar system. The results indicated that its magnetic intensity was so big to be the strongest one ever recorded in the whole universe. The team was able to determine the star’s strength by measuring its x-rays throu the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton telescope. The paper opens important doors on the study of magnetars and their x-rays, sometimes so strong that they can interfere with communication systems on Earth. It is thought that at the root of these cosmic explosions there are strong magnetic fields like those measured by the Italian researchers. Andrea Tiengo, main author and researcher in astronomy and astrophysics at the IUSS of Pavia, collaborated with Giovanni Bignami, astronomy professor at the IUSS and president of the Italian National Astrophysics Institute. The research also involve the University of Padova, University College London, the interdisciplinary astrophysics lab AIM – part of the French research center CEA, Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives – and the Space Sciences Institute (ICE) in Barcelona.
