Magnetar SGR 1900+14

Astronomers using the VLA have found evidence for the most powerful magnetic field ever seen in the universe by observing an "afterglow" of subatomic particles ejected from a magnetar -- a neutron star with a magnetic field billions of times stronger than anything that can be created on Earth. Magnetars were proposed in 1992 as a theoretical explanation for objects that repeatedly emit bursts of gamma-rays called "soft gamma-ray repeaters," or SGRs. This emission comes from the interaction of subatomic particles with the magnetar's powerful magnetic field. These VLA images show the SGR called 1900+14 (also known as GRB 980829), with its short-lived radio emission turned off, left, and on, right. The circles indicate the area from within which the X-ray emission of SGR 1900+14 comes.

Legacy Astronomical Images

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Legacy Astronomical Image

GRB 980829

Dale Frail, Shri Kulkarni, Josh Bloom

Very Large Array (VLA)

1998-09-03

continuum

RA 19:7:14.100, Dec: 9:19:19.000 (J2000)

0.006944 x 0.006944 degrees

Galactic Sources Series

Pulsars/Neutron Stars Unit