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Ever imagined a magnet so strong,

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you could wipe your credit card

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from like 2000 kilometers away.

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Seriously, 2000?

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Yeah, I think the entire length of Italy.

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That my friends is the power of a magnetar.

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Magnetars, they're absolutely mind boggling.

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We're talking magnetic fields

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quadrillions of times stronger than Earth's.

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It's insane.

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So today we're diving deep,

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deep into these magnetic monsters.

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How do they even form?

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What makes their magnetic field so ridiculously intense?

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And what happens when these things,

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well, when they let loose?

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Good questions.

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It's gonna be a wild ride for sure.

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So first things first, what is a magnetar?

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Name kind of gives it away, but.

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Right, at its core, a magnetar is a type of neutron star.

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Which is?

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The super dense leftover bits of a massive star

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that's gone supernova.

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Okay, so like a stellar corpse, but extra magnetic.

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Exactly, it's city size, maybe 20 kilometers across,

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but packs the mass of two suns

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and that magnetic field defies imagination.

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Wow.

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Okay, so how does a star go from shining bright

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to becoming a magnetar?

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What's the process?

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Well, it starts with a massive star,

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way bigger than our sun, much bigger.

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This star eventually runs out of fuel.

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Or is that a gas?

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Right, and when that happens,

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the core collapses under its own immense gravity.

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Crushing it down.

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Exactly, into a neutron star.

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But sometimes.

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Sometimes.

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Things get interesting.

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If the star was already spinning really fast.

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Okay.

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And had a strong magnetic field.

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Got it.

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Fast spinner, strong magnet.

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Then during the collapse, the magnetic field gets,

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well, imagine squeezing a magnetic field.

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It gets concentrated, amplified.

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Like a cosmic dynamo.

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Exactly, the dynamo effect.

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Oh, hey.

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Amplified to insane levels.

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Millions of times stronger than a typical neutron star.

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And boom, magnetar.

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Magnetar.

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Okay, so we've got this super dense, crazy spinning thing

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with an unimaginable magnetic field.

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What can it do?

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Oh, all sorts of crazy things.

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First off, the magnetic field is so strong,

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it distorts atoms.

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Like stretches them out into needle shapes.

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No way, atoms changing shape.

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Yeah.

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It's wild.

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Then there are starquakes.

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The magnetic pressure, it's immense.

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And it can cause the magnetars crust to shift.

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Suddenly.

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So like earthquakes, but on a star.

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Exactly, starquakes.

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And these release enormous bursts

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of energy gamma ray flashes.

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Gamma rays, those are intense.

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Very.

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And then the giant flares.

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I've heard about these.

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Magnetars can unleash these flares

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that for a brief moment outshine

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the entire Milky Way galaxy.

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The entire thing.

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Seriously.

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Seriously.

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We're talking energy equivalent to what our sun produces

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in a hundred thousand years,

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released in a fraction of a second.

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That's a lot.

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Welcome back, space explorers.

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Ready for more Magnetar Mayhem.

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Oh, I'm strapped in and ready for launch.

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Part one was mind blowing,

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but I'm ready for some specifics.

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Like what are some of the magnetars out there

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that are really making waves?

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The ones with names and stories.

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You want to meet the cosmic celebrities?

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Exactly, the ones causing all the drama.

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Well, let's start with the record holder

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for magnetar outbursts.

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SGR 180620.

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That name rings a bell.

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Didn't it cause a bit of a ruckus back in 2004?

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You bet it did.

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Imagine you're just going about your day here on earth

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and suddenly, bam, a wave of energy from a star,

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50,000 light years away, slams into our atmosphere.

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No way, seriously.

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That's crazy.

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It was so powerful,

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it actually messed with our upper atmosphere,

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disrated stuff.

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And that was from 50,000 light years away.

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Okay, so this SGR 180620

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is basically a magnetar superstar.

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A total diva, you could say.

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It holds the record for the brightest flare ever seen.

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And just to be clear,

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we're talking about a single burst of energy

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that was for a split second brighter

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than all the stars in our galaxy combine, all of them.

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It's hard to comprehend that kind of power.

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Is it still active?

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Or was that 2004 flare like a one-time thing?

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Oh, it's still active, all right.

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Thankfully, no galaxy-blinding flares recently,

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but it's constantly spitting out bursts

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of X-rays and gamma rays.

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Astronomers are definitely keeping a close watch.

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So like a cosmic beacon constantly sending out signals

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for us to decipher.

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Exactly.

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And every magnetar, they have their own unique signature,

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their own story to tell.

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Like take 1E1048.15937.

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This one's a bit of a mystery, really.

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Okay, I might need help pronouncing that one,

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but what makes it so special?

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Well, SGR 180620, that's our drama queen,

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all about those big explosive outbursts.

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But 1E1048.15937, this one's more of a slow burn.

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Think X-ray flares that can go on for weeks, even months.

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Really, that's different.

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Right, it's like it's holding a grudge

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against the universe, just simmering with anger.

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So is it like a firecracker versus a slow smoldering fire?

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Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

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And honestly, we're not totally sure why it's so different.

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Astronomers are still trying to wrap their heads

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around the magnetic field dynamics at play here.

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Maybe it's the structure of the crust

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or the way the magnetic field is anchored within the star.

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It's like each magnetar gives us a different piece

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of the puzzle, like they have their own personalities.

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Oh, I like that, personalities.

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And speaking of personality, our next magnetar,

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well, this one's a bit of a chatterbox,

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XTE J810N197, one of the first magnetars we discovered

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that actually emits radio waves.

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Wait, hold on, radio waves?

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I thought magnetars were all about those intense X-rays

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and gamma rays.

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They are, mostly.

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But some, like this one, they like to chat

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on different wavelengths.

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And those radio waves, they give us a whole new perspective.

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Tell us about the magnetic field structure,

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the environment around the magnetar.

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So like having another channel to listen in on,

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to eavesdrop on their conversations.

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You got it.

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And when we combine all those observations,

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the radio waves, the X-rays, the gamma rays,

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we start to build a more complete picture

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of these incredible objects.

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We've got SGR ATINO 620, the drama queen,

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1E1048.15937, the smoldering grudge holder,

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and XTE J810N197, the chatterbox.

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It's like a cosmic reality show.

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I like that.

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But with all their differences, there's

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got to be something that unites them, right?

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Something that makes a neutron star a magnetar

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in the first place.

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Yeah, that's the million dollar question, isn't it?

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It is.

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We know it has to do with the original star's magnetic field

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and how fast it was spinning.

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But the exact recipe, still a mystery.

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So like missing ingredients in the cosmic cookbook?

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Kind of, yeah.

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Some scientists think those extreme magnetic fields

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are created during the star's collapse, the dynamo model,

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we call it.

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OK, that sounds familiar.

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But others, they think maybe those strong fields were already

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there, inside the star, from the very beginning,

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like some hidden treasure, the fossil field model.

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So are we talking like a cosmic puzzle with missing pieces?

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Exactly.

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And the problem is, we can't just

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peek inside a collapsing star and see what's happening.

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We have to rely on computer models, indirect observations.

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It's like a cosmic detective story.

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And probably a lot harder to recreate a collapsing

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star in a lab.

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Yeah, just a tad.

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The densities and temperatures involved,

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those are beyond anything we can create here on Earth.

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But that's what makes it so fascinating.

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There's always more to uncover.

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One thing that really stumps us is how magnetars,

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magnetic fields, they fade over time.

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They decay.

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So they're not forever magnets.

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Nope.

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But we don't know exactly how they decay,

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what the mechanisms are.

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It's like a slow leak in a cosmic balloon.

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The energy is slowly dissipating.

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But where is it going?

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How fast is it happening?

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Big questions.

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And those outbursts, could those be connected to the decay?

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Maybe.

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Some astronomers think so.

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Maybe those bursts are how the magnetar

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releases some of that pent up magnetic energy.

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A pressure valve, in a way.

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So they're like, I'm too magnetic,

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got to let off some steam.

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And then, boom, a giant flare.

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Something like that.

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And then there's, well, this is where things get really

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interesting, the connection between magnetars

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and those mysterious fast radio bursts.

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Ever heard of those?

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FRBs.

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Oh, yeah, the super short, super intense radio signals

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from deep space.

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Those are still a bit of a head scratcher, right?

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Big time.

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But in the last few years, astronomers

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have pinpointed several FRBs coming from our own galaxy.

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And guess what?

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They seem to be coming from magnetars.

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Seriously.

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So these magnetic beasts could be

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responsible for some of the most powerful radio signals

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in the universe.

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It's looking more and more likely.

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The current thinking is that these FRBs

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are caused by sudden shifts or reconfigurations

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in the magnetar's magnetic field,

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like a cosmic snap releasing a torrent of energy

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that we detect as a radio burst.

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So they're like sending out Morse code,

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but on a galactic scale.

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Exactly.

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We're still trying to crack the code,

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but it's a pretty exciting clue in the FRB mystery.

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Definitely adds another layer of intrigue

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to these already fascinating objects.

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But how do we even study them?

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What kind of tools can handle these cosmic heavyweights?

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Well, luckily, we've got some pretty powerful tools

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in our cosmic toolbox.

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X-ray telescopes like Chandra, those

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let us observe the high energy outbursts.

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Then there are gamma ray telescopes like Fermi

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to catch those massive flares.

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And for listening in on their radio chatter,

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we've got radio telescopes, like the very large ray.

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So it's like we're experiencing a magnetar

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with all our senses, gathering data

278
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from across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.

279
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Exactly.

280
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And the more powerful our telescopes become,

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the more sensitive they get, the more we can learn.

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We're piecing together the magnetar puzzle

283
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one observation at a time.

284
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Sounds like there's still a lot more

285
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to learn about these magnetic monsters.

286
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:37,280
Oh, definitely.

287
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But before we get ahead of ourselves,

288
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let's take a pause here.

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We'll explore some of the bigger implications of magnetar

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research in part three, how studying these extreme objects

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can help us understand the universe, maybe even

292
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lead to new technologies.

293
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And yeah, we'll even touch on the potential risks they pose.

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So stick around.

295
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There's a whole lot more to uncover.

296
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Back for more magnetar madness.

297
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:02,600
I got to say, even after two parts,

298
00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,040
I'm still kind of reeling from all this magnetar stuff.

299
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Yeah, it's a lot to take in.

300
00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,480
It really makes you think, huh, about the universe, I mean,

301
00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:10,960
just how much we don't know.

302
00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:12,160
Absolutely.

303
00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:14,880
So we've covered a lot of ground, what they are,

304
00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,480
how they form, those crazy outbursts.

305
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But now I'm curious, what's the big takeaway here?

306
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What can studying magnetars tell us about, well, everything?

307
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That's the question, isn't it?

308
00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,920
I mean, on one hand, they're like these extreme physics labs,

309
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places where we can see physics happening that we could never

310
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recreate here on Earth.

311
00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:34,480
Yeah, those magnetic fields are just insane,

312
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pushing the limits of what we understand about quantum

313
00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:39,240
mechanics, gravity, all that.

314
00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:40,080
Exactly.

315
00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:41,880
By studying how matter and energy

316
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,760
behave in those environments, we can test our theories,

317
00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:47,560
maybe even come up with new ones.

318
00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:51,000
It's like having a front row seat to the most extreme physics

319
00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:52,680
experiment in the universe.

320
00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:55,360
It's mind blowing that something so, I don't know,

321
00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,040
alien could help us understand the fundamental laws

322
00:10:58,040 --> 00:10:59,760
of physics.

323
00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,320
But are there any practical applications?

324
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,920
Could magnetar research lead to new technologies?

325
00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:06,000
Potentially, yeah.

326
00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:07,840
Remember how we talked about some magnetars

327
00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:08,960
emitting radio waves?

328
00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:10,120
Right, those chatty ones.

329
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:11,960
Well, by studying those radio emissions,

330
00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:13,640
figuring out how they're generated,

331
00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:15,560
we might learn new ways to manipulate

332
00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:17,280
electromagnetic radiation.

333
00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,000
So are you saying magnetar research could

334
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,600
lead to faster communications, better sensors, maybe even

335
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:25,760
new forms of energy?

336
00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:26,920
It's early days, for sure.

337
00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,640
We're a long way from directly applying those principles.

338
00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:31,320
But the potential is definitely there.

339
00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:32,480
That's amazing.

340
00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,560
OK, but let's talk about something a bit more, well,

341
00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:36,280
closer to home.

342
00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:38,640
We've mentioned that magnetars can be dangerous.

343
00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,240
Could one of those outbursts actually harm Earth?

344
00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:42,640
It's a fair question.

345
00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:44,160
And the answer is, yeah.

346
00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,000
If a magnetar had a major outburst close enough to Earth,

347
00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:48,880
it could cause some serious problems.

348
00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:53,560
I mean, remember that 2004 event with SGR 180620,

349
00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,200
the one that disrupted Earth's atmosphere from 50,000 light

350
00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:56,760
years away?

351
00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:57,240
Exactly.

352
00:11:57,240 --> 00:11:58,120
That was a wake up call.

353
00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,160
Not something I'd want to experience up close.

354
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:01,840
Thankfully, the odds of that happening

355
00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:03,360
are really, really low.

356
00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,720
All the magnetars we know about are far enough away

357
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:07,560
that we're safe from any direct hits.

358
00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:09,320
OK, that's good to hear.

359
00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:10,800
But what about our technology?

360
00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:15,600
Could a nearby outburst mess with satellites, communication

361
00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:16,320
systems?

362
00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:17,360
It's possible.

363
00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:19,600
A powerful burst of X-rays or gamma rays

364
00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,200
could fry electronics, disrupt communications, maybe even

365
00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:24,320
damage power grids.

366
00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,320
So like a cosmic EMP blast?

367
00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:27,040
Yeah, kind of.

368
00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,400
But again, these events are incredibly rare.

369
00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:31,080
And the more we learn about magnetars,

370
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,160
the better we'll be able to predict these outbursts

371
00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:34,400
and protect our technology.

372
00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:35,160
That makes sense.

373
00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:36,440
So it sounds like magnetars.

374
00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,920
They're incredibly powerful, potentially dangerous,

375
00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,440
but also valuable tools for scientific discovery,

376
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:44,280
and maybe even for new technologies.

377
00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:45,440
Exactly.

378
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,480
They're a powerful reminder that there

379
00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,200
are forces out there in the universe that

380
00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:53,440
are way beyond anything we experience here on Earth.

381
00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,520
It's both humbling and inspiring.

382
00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:56,240
Absolutely.

383
00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,080
It shows us just how much we still

384
00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,280
have to learn about the universe and how much more there

385
00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:02,440
is to discover.

386
00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,200
Well, on that note, huge thanks for guiding us

387
00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,480
through this deep dive into the world of magnetars.

388
00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:08,600
It's been incredible.

389
00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:09,440
My pleasure.

390
00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:11,200
And a big thank you to all our listeners

391
00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,080
for joining us on this journey.

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00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,120
Keep looking up and keep exploring the cosmos.

393
00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:17,600
And if you want to keep exploring

394
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:19,800
the wonders of space and science,

395
00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:21,760
be sure to follow and subscribe to Cosmos

396
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,240
in a PodsPalds podcast YouTube channel

397
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:28,200
for more fascinating deep dives.