magnetar

British

/ ˈmæɡnɪtɑː /

noun

a type of neutron star that has a very intense magnetic field, over 1000 times greater than that of a pulsar

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

magnetar Scientific

/ măg′nə-tär′ /

A neutron star with a very strong magnetic field. Magnetars are the proposed sources of observed gamma ray bursts.

Etymology

Origin of magnetar

C20: from _magnet ( _ic ) ( _st ) _ar , on the model of _quasar

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Now, I think Joseph has found the smoking gun," Howell continued, "and he's tied the bumps into the magnetar model, and explained everything with the best-tested theory in astrophysics -- General Relativity.

From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2026

Because of a general relativity effect known as Lense-Thirring precession, the spinning magnetar twists the surrounding space-time, causing the disk to wobble.

From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2026

But existing magnetar models could not explain the repeating bumps.

From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2026

Because the supernova remnant is still visible, the magnetar left behind ought to be relatively young—and still magnetically powerful.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 3, 2024

A team in China that reported finding the same 44-minute LPT with the Daocheng Radio Telescope, in a preprint on arXiv last week, favors the magnetar idea.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 3, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023