Created:
Updated:
Neutron stars are some of the most objects exotic and extremes of the universe. Among them, the magnétar stands out for its huge magnetic fields, capable of generate intense X -ray emissions and astrophysical phenomena not yet fully understood. For decades, scientists have tried to explain how these magnetic fields are formed and why some magnetars have a lower intensity than expected, but with characteristics similar to the most powerful.
Now, a team of researchers has solved a key part of this enigma. A study published in Nature Astronomy has confirmed, through numerical simulations, that Magnetic fields also called low intensity magnetaestrellas are generated by a mechanism called “Dinamo Tayler-Spruit”activated by the material that falls again on the neutron star after an explosion of Supernova. This finding not only explains a pending mystery for 25 years, but also Open new perspectives on the evolution of these extreme objects.
The role of supernovae in the creation of Magnetares
When a massive star exhausts its fuel, it collapses a spectacular explosion of Supernovaleaving behind a neutron star. In this process, most of the matter is expelled to space, but a fraction of the material falls again on the newly formed star in what is known as “Fallback” (An English term that does not have an exact translation into Spanish, but that refers to the fall of stellar material that fails to escape at all after the explosion).
This additional material makes the neutron star turn fasterand according to the study, this accelerated turn is key to generating an intense magnetic field through the Tayler-Spruit dine. As explained by the authors of the Paper, “low intensity magnetars can occur as a result of a Tayler-Spruit dine within a proto-stoward of neutrons.”
Until now, it was thought that the magnetars acquired their intense magnetic fields when forming, but this discovery shows that His subsequent evolution also plays a fundamental role.
What is Dinamo Tayler-Spruit and why is it so important?
The magnetic fields of neutrons stars can be formed by different mechanisms. One of them is the Dinamo Tayler-Spruitwhich is activated when the differential rotation within the star induces instabilities in the magnetic field. These instabilities reorganize the internal structure of the field and can generate extremely complex and durable configurations.
The new study is the first to demonstrate through simulations that this mechanism can explain the existence of Low intensity magnetarsthat have dipole fields between 10¹² and 10¹³ gauss – very weak than classic magnetars, but with similar characteristics. As the investigation points out, “these findings suggest that the formation channel of low intensity magnetars is different from that of classic magnetars.”
In simple terms, this means that Not all magnetars originate in the same way. Some develop their magnetic field from the initial collapse, while others generate it Thanks to internal processes that occur after their training.
The surprising properties of low intensity magnetars
One of the most striking aspects of discovery is that these magnetars, despite having a weaker global magnetic field, present small regions with much more intense fieldsup to 100 times higher than the dip pole value externally. This could explain why they emit x -ray bursts similar to those of the most powerful magnetars.
Recent observations of magnetars as SGR 0418+5729 and SWIFT J1882.3-1606 They have shown that their X -ray activity does not correspond to their external magnetic fields, which suggests the existence of more intense internal structures. In the words of the study, “X-ray observations show that in two cases, low intensity magnetars have small-scale magnetic fields 10-100 times stronger than their dipole fields.”
This has important implications for our understanding of these objects, since it indicates that Its energy activity does not depend solely on the dipole field externallybut also of the internal distribution of its magnetic field lines.
A step forward in the astrophysics of neutron stars
This finding has deep consequences for high energy astrophysics. Magnetares are associated with some of the most energy events in the universe, such as super -flagged supernova explosions and long -term gamma ray bursts. Understanding how their magnetic fields are generated is key to interpreting these phenomena.
On the other hand, the study opens new lines of research. The team of scientists plans Make more detailed simulations To explore how Dinamo Tayler-Spruit could influence the long-term evolution of magnetars. Future x -ray observations are also expected to allow directly confirm the presence of these intense internal magnetic fields.
References
- Igoshev, A., Barrère, P., Raynaud, R., Guilet, J., Wood, T., & Hollerbach, R. (2025). A Connection Between Proto-Neutron-Star Tayler-Spruit Dynamos and Low-Field Magnetars. Nature Astronomy. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02477-y.
(Tagstotranslate) Astrof \ u00edsica
Source link
