Magnetars: Magnetic Monsters

Some neutron stars develop magnetic fields a thousand trillion times stronger than Earth's. These are magnetars, the most powerful magnets known in the universe. Their fields are so intense they stretch atoms into thin cylinders, making normal chemistry impossible.

Magnetars sometimes unleash huge bursts of energy called starquakes, set off when their rigid crust cracks under magnetic stress. In 2004, a magnetar named SGR 1806-20 released a gamma-ray flare so powerful it briefly disturbed Earth's upper atmosphere from 50,000 light-years away.