This is a variety of a neutron star — the compact collapsed core of a massive star that exploded as a supernova — that is highly magnetized and rotates relatively slowly, as opposed to fast-spinning neutron star objects called pulsars that appear from Earth to be blinking on and off within milliseconds or seconds. (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Reuters)It is located relatively close to Earth in cosmic terms, roughly 4,200 light years away. A neutron star with an extreme magnetic field, a magnetar, could potentially power the radio pulsations, the researchers said. "This is more likely to be the 'first of its kind' rather than 'one of a kind," Anderson said. It also perhaps could be another type of dead star called a white dwarf or something completely unknown, Hurley-Walker said.

Source: CBC News January 29, 2022 04:01 UTC