Weblog
3 Could 2014
ESO/L. Calçada
A magnetar is a neutron star with an especially sturdy magnetic area, a billion instances stronger than the strongest fields we are able to create on Earth. As a neutron star, magnetars even have very sturdy gravitational fields, with a floor gravity 100 billion instances that of Earth. Such a excessive gravity would appear to make sure that a magnetar is spherical, however a magnetar’s sturdy gravitational area may distort the star, making it extra of an oblate spheroid. We’ve suspected that such a magnetic distortion may happen with magnetars, however now a analysis crew appears to have discovered an instance of this phenomenon.
The end result was revealed in Bodily Overview Letters, and analyzes knowledge from a magnetar referred to as 4u 0142+61, which can also be a pulsar. As you may keep in mind, pulsars are neutron stars that emit sturdy vitality pulses in our course as they rotate. As a result of these pulses are of very quick length, we are able to make very correct measurements of their timing. This permits us to measure the rotation of a pulsar with nice precision. The measurement is so exact that we are able to observe their how rotational intervals regularly lengthen because the neutron star loses rotational vitality. We are able to even observe small glitches of their rotation attributable to starquakes.
Ok. Makishima, et al
Usually the rotational interval of a pulsar will regularly lengthen, with the occasional glitch that causes a sudden shortening of its interval, solely to proceed its gradual lengthening. However within the case of 4u 0142+6, the authors found one thing slightly odd. They measured the pulses of x-rays from the magnetar, and located that typically the pulses arrived a bit sooner than anticipated, and at different instances a bit later. It appeared that the rotational interval had a slight oscillation to it. This shouldn’t be potential for a spherical neutron star, however it’s potential for an oblate neutron star. That’s as a result of an oblate spheroid precesses because it rotates.
Precession is the impact you see with a spinning high, the place it wobbles because it spins on its axis. We see the impact with the Earth as a result of it’s an oblate spheroid, which is why the north star of as we speak will not be the identical because the north star 1000’s of years in the past. The magnetar 4u 0142+6 appears to wobble in the same method, which is why its pulses are typically eventually than anticipated. For the Earth, the precessional interval is about 26,000 years. For 4u 0142+6, it’s about 15 hours. This implies the magnetar differs from a sphere by about 1 half in 5000. When the authors calculated the magnetic area energy vital for such a deviation, they discovered that it was a few trillion tesla. That’s greater than most magnetars, however inside an inexpensive vary.
So evidently this specific magnetar is certainly warped by its personal magnetic area, which supplies it’s weeble wobble movement.
