My daughter sent me this great article:
Fast radio bursts: Are these mysterious signals from deep space getting even stranger?
The gist of the article is where do Fast Radio Bursts (FSB) come from? The theories range from “cataclysmic black hole collisions to aliens (even astronomers accidentally detecting meals cooking in their microwaves).” The main culprit, however, is thought to be magnetars.
Magnetars are pretty fascinating space objects. People sometimes talk about black holes being the biggest monster out there, but I’m thinking it’s a magnetar. The density of the interior of a magnetar is such that a tablespoon of its substance would have a mass of over 100 million tons. The dangerous part though is their magnetic field is a TRILLION times more powerful than the Earth’s. If the surface of a magnetar moves it results in a huge burst of gamma rays.
The magnetic field from a magnetar is so strong that if a human were to pass within 600 miles (1000km) of one, the magnetar’s magnetic field would distort the electron clouds of atoms in the human body, effectively tearing them apart. This would cause the body to disintegrate into a cloud of monatomic ions. Ouch! Actually, no ouch. The extreme magnetic field would disrupt the nervous system before you’re torn apart, meaning a person wouldn’t feel pain before death.
On 27 December 2004, a burst of gamma rays from a magnetar passed through the Solar System. The burst was so powerful that it had effects on Earth’s atmosphere, at a range of about 50,000 light-years. This energy came from a quake on the surface where it moved 1cm (~0.4”). If it had been closer, it would have removed the entire atmosphere instantly, and that would have been a very bad day for everyone.
Space is fascinating!
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