Mysterious Cosmic Flashes Could Be Linked to a Neutron Star Merger
Learn more about magnetars and how they may also form from two colliding neutron stars.
Graduate student Niccolò Passaleva made headlines when two neutron stars collided. On his way home, Passaleva, who works with Professor Eleonora Troja's research group, seized the opportunity to commandeer a large telescope from his laptop. The team, supported by the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant, recently discovered that neutron star mergers may also appear as X-ray flashes lasting several minutes.
Passaleva led follow-up observations using the VLT in Chile, noting it was the longest-lasting prompt X-ray flash ever observed from a neutron star merger. This discovery could help reveal how often neutron star mergers create magnetars, ultra-dense stellar corpses with rapidly spinning neutron stars and immense magnetic fields.
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