00:00Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a massive gamma-ray burst released more energy in a half
00:09second than our Sun will ever produce. In May of 2020, light from that stellar explosion finally
00:14reached Earth. Now, an astrophysics team from Northwestern University believes we have witnessed
00:19the birth of a magnetar for the very first time. Magnetars are the most magnetic objects in the
00:24universe, according to NASA. These magnetic monsters have been observed but are poorly
00:28understood, and astronomers have never seen one being born. Scientists believe the magnetar was
00:33created in a neutron star collision. The event, called GRB200522A, produced a characteristic
00:39afterglow known as a kilonova, the brightest ever seen. Astrophysicist Wenfai Fong, who led the
00:45research, told LiveScience, I can count on my hands the number of kilonovas that have been discovered
00:49from short gamma-ray bursts, but this was 10 times brighter than any of those. A rapidly spinning
00:55neutron star with massive magnetic fields, a.k.a. a magnetar, might explain such a bright
01:00kilonova. The magnetar's powerful magnetic fields would have stirred up the energized
01:03kilonova particles, making them glow bright. Assuming the team is correct, future observations
01:08should reveal radio emissions from the site. The findings were published in the Astrophysical
01:12Journal.
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