Bright X-ray and Radio Pulses from a Recently Reactivated Magnetar

Understand

Magnetars are young, rotating neutron stars that possess larger magnetic fields ($B$ $\approx$ $10^{13}$-$10^{15}$ G) and longer rotational periods ($P$ $\approx$ 1-12 s) than ordinary pulsars.

• In contrast to rotation-powered pulsars, magnetar emission is thought to be fueled by the evolution and decay of their powerful magnetic fields.
• They display highly variable radio and X-ray emission, but the processes responsible for this behavior remain a mystery.
• We report the discovery of bright, persistent individual X-ray pulses from XTE J1810-197, a transient radio magnetar, using the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) following its recent radio reactivation.