Magnetar Giant Flare Produces Gamma Rays

Astronomers explain the observations of GRB 200415A with the sequence of events illustrated here. A magnetar is a city-sized ball containing more mass than the Sun that boasts the strongest magnetic fields known. A sudden reconfiguration of this field, possibly caused by a starquake, produced a quick, powerful pulse of X-rays and gamma rays (magenta). The event also ejected a blob of matter that followed this pulse, but moved slightly slower, at about 99% the speed of light. After a few days, they both reac