Power of MAGNETARS

Imagine a star with a magnetic field so incredibly strong, that it could strip the information off a credit card, from thousands of kilometres away. Such a star is known as a magnetar, one of the most powerful objects in the universe. Magnetars are a type of neutron star. But what sets them apart is their magnetic field. It’s up to a thousand times stronger than that of typical neutron stars and a billion times more powerful than the strongest magnet on Earth. This immense magnetic force results in starquakes that release more energy in a tenth of a second than our Sun does in 100,000 years. However, magnetars are rare. For example, the Milky Way has approximately 100 million neutron stars but only a few dozen known magnetars. They are a testament to the unimaginable extremes that exist within the cosmos. For more videos of Cosmos in a minute, follow The Secrets of the Universe.