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Magnetic fields could explain an 'erratic' neutron star
Scientists think they've discovered why an unusual star system is emitting "sudden, erratic and extremely intense" bursts of X-rays. Using three different space telescopes, the team set out to investigate "Rapid Burster," a binary system first discovered in the 1970s, in 2015. It contains a small star and a "neutron star," the term given to collapsed cores of formerly giant stars. Normally, this setup would produce "type-I" bursts, as the dense neutron star strips the gas of its younger neighbor. The Rapid Burster does this too, but curiously it also exhibits rarer, high energy "type-II" blasts.
