Magnetar Polarizes X-rays Up to 47% ⚡ экспресс
Observations of magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 with the IXPE X-ray polarimeter in 2025, using an exposure of 500 kiloseconds, revealed linear polarization (47.7±2.9%) in the 2–6 keV band at a position angle of 75.8±1.8 degrees. The spectrum is described by a single thermal component with a blackbody temperature of ~0.67 keV and an emission radius of ~1.2 km. A hint (at 1σ level) of a minimum in the polarization degree between 3 and 4 keV was found, consistent with partial mode conversion at the vacuum resonance in the atmosphere. Phase-resolved analysis indicates that the emission likely originates from a single hot spot with non-uniform temperature. Fitting the phase dependence of the position angle with the rotating vector model constrains the system geometry and shows that both the dipole axis and the line of sight are misaligned with the rotation axis. In these conditions, strong polarization is not a decisive argument in favor of vacuum birefringence in the magnetosphere; nevertheless, the successful reproduction by the RVM of the position angle modulation and the energy-dependent behavior of the polarization degree again points to the manifestation of QED effects in magnetars.
Neutron stars are ultra-dense remnants of supernovae the size of a city. In the 1930s, Fritz Zwicky hypothesized their existence, and later Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered pulsars—rapidly rotating neutron stars. Magnetars are the rarest variety, with magnetic fields billions of times stronger than Earth's. It can influence the void itself.
Recently, the IXPE X-ray telescope captured emission from the magnetar 1E 1547.0‑5408 and found an unusual property: almost half the light oscillated strictly in one plane—like after passing through polarizing sunglasses. But while in everyday life polarization is created by a filter, here space itself played that role. The star's magnetic field turned the vacuum into a kind of crystal, aligning the X-ray waves. This 'cosmic crystal' helped refine the tilt of the star's magnetic axis—it turns out it rotates at nearly a right angle.
🎯 A city-sized magnetar carries a hot spot heated to millions of degrees—hotter than the Sun's core.
🎬 In sci-fi, magnetars are fearsome guardians of the deep: their invisible radiation can disable a starship millions of kilometers away.