4U 0142+61 is a
magnetar
A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field (∼109 to 1011 T, ∼1013 to 1015 G). The magnetic-field decay powers the emission of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays.War ...
at an approximate distance of from Earth, located in the constellation
Cassiopeia.
In an article published in ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' on April 6, 2006, Deepto Chakrabarty ''et al.'' of
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...
revealed that a
circumstellar disk
A circumstellar disc (or circumstellar disk) is a torus, pancake or ring-shaped accretion disk of matter composed of gas, dust, planetesimals, asteroids, or collision fragments in orbit around a star. Around the youngest stars, they are the rese ...
was discovered around the pulsar. This may prove that
pulsar planet
Pulsar planets are planets that are found orbiting pulsars, or rapidly rotating neutron stars. The first such planets to be discovered were around a millisecond pulsar and were the first extrasolar planets to be confirmed as discovered.
History
...
s are common around
neutron star
A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star, which had a total mass of between 10 and 25 solar masses, possibly more if the star was especially metal-rich. Except for black holes and some hypothetical objects (e.g. white ...
s. The debris disk is likely to be composed of mainly heavier metals. The star had undergone a
supernova
A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...
event approximately 100,000 years ago. The disk orbits about 1.6 million kilometers away from the pulsar and probably contains about 10
Earth-masses of material. This also marks the first time that a pulsar has been discovered with a debris disk orbiting it.
In May 2022, the first study by the
IXPE
Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, commonly known as IXPE or SMEX-14, is a space observatory with three identical telescopes designed to measure the polarization of cosmic X-rays of black holes, neutron stars, and pulsars. The observatory ...
space observatory hinted at the possibility of
vacuum birefringence
A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often dis ...
on 4U 0142+61.
In November 2022, astronomers using the IXPE reported that the star may have a solid surface, with no atmosphere.
References
External links
First signs of weird quantum property of empty space?(November 30, 2016) Phys.org
(April 5, 2006) CNN
(April 7, 2006) SpaceDaily
Birth of 'Phoenix' Planets?4U0142+611RXS J014621.5+614509
Magnetars
Circumstellar disks
Cassiopeia (constellation)
Pulsar planets
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