 8. Magnetars The sun spins about once every 25 days, gradually deforming its magnetic field. Well, imagine a dying star heavier than the sun collapsing into a wad of matter just a dozen miles in diameter. Like a spinning ballerina pulling his or her arms inward, this change in size spins the neutron star -- and its magnetic field -- out of control. Calculations show these objects possess temporary magnetic fields about one million billion times stronger than the Earth's. That's powerful enough to destroy your credit card from hundreds of thousands of miles away, and deform atoms into ultra-thin cylinders. Caption: Artist's rendition of a magnetar with magnetic fields shown. Credit: NASA |
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