Magnetar Polarizes X-rays Up to 47% ⚡ экспресс
Magnetars are neutron stars with monstrous magnetic fields. In 2025, IXPE studied magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 in detail and found nearly 48% linear polarization in hard X-rays — it's as if you were viewing the world through a perfect polarizer. Intriguingly, the polarization degree dips slightly in the 3–4 keV range: this could be a sign of 'mode conversion' in a magnetized vacuum. Analysis showed that the emission comes from a single hot spot on the star, and the polarization not only points to vacuum birefringence, but its energy-dependent changes hint at quantum electrodynamic effects. This is a window into the physics of extreme fields.
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.