Fireworks from a flaring gamma-ray star Because of recent
outbursts, astronomers will classify the object as a soft-gamma-
ray repeater - only the sixth known. February 10, 2009 Provided
by NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. February 10, 2009
Astronomers think soft gamma-ray repeaters are magnetars —
neutron stars with a super-strong magnetic field (blue arcs in
this artist's concept). Photo by NASA/Goddard Space Flight
Center Conceptual Image Lab Astronomers using NASA's Swift
satellite and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are seeing
frequent blasts from a stellar remnant 30,000 light-years away.
The high-energy fireworks arise from a rare type of neutron star
known as a soft-gamma-ray repeater. Such objects unpredictably
send out a series of X-ray and gamma-ray flares. "At times, this
remarkable object has erupted with more than a hundred flares in
as little as 20 minutes," said Loredana Vetere, who is
coordinating the Swift observations at Pennsylvania State
University. "The most intense flares emitted more