The strongest space magnetic field measurement has been broken! The newest record exceeds all the previous ones. It reached around 146 keV, comparable to the magnetic field surface created by around 1.6 billion Tesla.
(Photo : NASA on Unsplash)
The Clown-faced Nebula as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope
In the latest study, involved experts used the so-called "Insight-HXMT," China's first X-ray observatory launched to outer space.
This space tech is funded by the China National Space Administration and CAS.
The Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and other science organizations, as well as universities, worked together using the Insight-HXMT.
Strongest Space Magnetic Field Measurement Has Been Broken!
According to Phys Org's latest report, the new study titled "Insight-HXMT Discovery of the Highest-energy CRSF from the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124" was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters on June 28.
(Photo : NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard/Moore et al.)
New readings made by the Juno spacecraft revealed small but distinct changes in the magnetic field of Jupiter.
In this new study, involved researchers discovered a cyclotron absorption line with an energy of 146 keV. It was located in the star X-ray binary "Swift J0243.6+6124."
"The broad energy coverage and large collection area of Insight-HXMT in the hard X-ray band allowed us to detect the CRSF with the highest energy known to date," said the space scientists.
They added that the outburst came from Milky Way's first ultraluminous X-ray pulsar. Aside from being the strongest magnetic field measurement in the universe, experts also shared other interesting characteristics of Swift J0243.6+6124.
Swift J0243.6+6124's Other Details
Based on the findings, the Swift J0243.6+6124 is also the first detection of an electron cyclotron absorption line within an ultraluminous X-ray source.
Thanks to this, it allowed involved experts to have direct measurements of the neutron star's surface magnetic field.
The latest discovery of the strongest space magnetic field is quite far from the previous records. The first one reached only around 90 keV (which is comparable to the force of around 1 billion Tesla).
After this, the Chinese space X-ray laboratory recorded another stronger space magnetic field reaching exactly 100 keV, which was generated by another neutron star called 1A 0535+262.
Thanks to the advanced broadband spectral coverage (1-250 keV), low dead-time, high time resolution, and other features of Insight-HXMT, it could detect undetectable magnetic fields in space in other X-ray satellites models.
This means that there will be another time when the Chinese space X-ray will identify space magnetic fields stronger than the latest Swift J0243.6+6124.
If you want to see further details about the so-called Swift J0243.6+6124, you can visit this link.
Previously, it was announced that the new Rocket Lab program would allow people to send their payloads into orbit within 24 hours.
On the other hand, a sneaky asteroid the size of a giraffe is expected to make a close approach to Earth.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
