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.

As the disk precesses, it periodically blocks and reflects light coming from the magnetar.

From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2026

In current models, a magnetar can act like an energy source that feeds power into a supernova, making it exceptionally bright and shaping its overall light curve.

From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2026

In his model, some of the exploded material falls back toward the magnetar and forms a tilted accretion disk.

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