NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Illustration of a binary neutron star merger just as the two stars make contact. All neutron stars have intense magnetic fields. The typical magnetic field of a neutron star is about 100,000 times stronger than the strongest magnetic fields we can create on Earth. But about 1% of neutron stars have even stronger magnetic fields. Known as magnetars, their magnetic fields can be 1,000 times stronger than a regular magnetic field. They are a likely cause for powerful transient events such as soft gamma-ray repeaters and fast radio bursts. A new study looks at how magnetars...