Magnetar

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A neutron star or pulsar with an extremely powerful magnetic field, especially those on which starquakes occur, thought to be the source of some gamma-ray bursts.

    "This signal could be detected with Advanced LIGO-class detectors up to the distance of the Virgo cluster, where ≥ 1 yr⁻¹ magnetars are expected to form."

Example

More examples

"Astronomers last year linked observations of an FRB spotted in our Milky Way galaxy with a region where a known magnetar resides."

Etymology

Blend of magnet + pulsar. By surface analysis, magnet + -ar.

Related phrases

gamma raygamma ray burstmagnetic fieldneutron star

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.