A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field.
An artist's impression of a Magnetar with lines around it depicting its magnetic field.
It is known as the largest and the most powerful type of magnet existing in the Universe. It has the most powerful magnetic field at 1015gauss. The theory regarding these objects was proposed by Robert Duncan and Christopher Thompson in 1992, but the first recorded gamma ray burst thought to have been from a magnetar had been detected on March 5, 1979. Magnetars were previously named as Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs).
| A list of AXP candidates and their estimated rotation period in seconds, as of 2003, follows: |
| AXP 1E 2259+586 | 6.98 |
| AXP 1E 1048-59 | 6.45 |
| AXP 4U 0142+61 | 8.69 |
| AXP 1RXS 1708-40 | 11.0 |
| AXP 1E 1841-045 | 11.8 |
| AXP AXJ1844-0258 | 6.97 |
| AXP CXJ0110-7211 | 5.44 |
| Please note that the second, fourth, and last names were abbreviated |
