Magnetars are surrounded by the most powerful magnetic fields in the known universe, but these dead stars are also surrounded by plenty of mystery. And now, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia observatory, the mystery surrounding one Milky Way magnetar, designated SGR 0501+4516, has deepened.
That's because astronomers have discovered that this magnetar, which is a special type of highly magnetic neutron star, wasn't actually born in a nearby supernova as previously theorized. Discovered via gamma-ray flashes at the edge of the Milky Way, observed by NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in 2008, the birthplace of SGR 0501+4516 and its origins are now unknown. It is actually now the Milky Way magnetar that is most likely not to have been created in a supernova explosion.
