A perplexing object that has baffled astronomers for a century has revealed its true nature: It is a precursor to an extremely rare “cosmic monster.”
According to SciTech Daily and Science Alert, a team of scientists led by Dr. Tomer Shenar from the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) has discovered that the bizarre creature named HD 45166 is a dying Wolf-Rayet star.
The “explosive” transformation creating a magnetar may be imminent – (Image: SCITECH DAILY)
HD 45166 has been known for some time; it is a helium-rich world with a companion star. It resembles a Wolf-Rayet star—a rare type characterized by an unusual spectrum, named after two astronomers who discovered this kind of object—but it is missing several key elements.
It exhibits an unusual stellar wind and appears to be losing mass in a mysterious manner.
A new study by Dutch scientists—based on the latest observations from some of the world’s most powerful telescopes—has revealed that this monster possesses an extremely strong magnetic field. It has become the first magnetic Wolf-Rayet star to be identified.
HD 45166 is ejecting material into space, thus gradually losing mass.
This process will lead to its eventual collapse into a neutron star, an ultra-dense object with a diameter of just 20 kilometers but a mass several times greater than ordinary stars like our Sun.
Moreover, this represents a “higher” form of a neutron star: a magnetar, with a magnetic field 1,000 times stronger than that of typical neutron stars and over 4 billion times stronger than Earth.
Magnetars have been theorized in astronomical studies, but this is the first time their formation has been witnessed. Like other neutron stars, it is a type of “zombie,” formed from an original massive star.
For HD 45166 to become a magnetar, it must possess an exceptional magnetic field. Measurements indicate that its magnetic field strength reaches up to 43,000 gauss, the highest ever recorded.
Scientists are continuing to observe it, hoping to directly capture the birth of a “legendary” object, long believed to be responsible for various unusual phenomena, including strange radio waves occasionally detected by observatories from space.
“It’s fascinating to discover a new type of astronomical object, especially one that has always hidden in plain sight,” Dr. Shenar remarked. Details about this cosmic monster have just been published in the scientific journal Science.
