[ Background Music ]
>> An international
team of scientists,
including researchers from
the UCL Mullard Space Science
Laboratory, have
identified a second member
of a rare breed of neutron star.
Neutron stars are the dead
cores of massive stars
that have collapsed in on
themselves, after burning
up all their fuel, and exploding
as dramatic supernovas.
There are several subtypes,
and this newly discovered
hybrid features the qualities
of a magnetar and a pulsar.
Magnetars emit bright x-rays,
and have the most intense
magnetic fields known
in the universe.
Pulsars, with much
lower magnetic fields,
pulse radio waves as
they rotate rapidly.
This recently discovered
hybrid star appears
to have a spinning stellar
skeleton, like that of a pulsar,
while also hiding an intense
internal magnetic field,
like that of a magnatar.
The new hybrid star will help
the team to understand more
about the interior
of neutron stars.
