Magnetar birth confirmed inside colossal supernova
Astronomers have confirmed the births of a magnetar—a highly magnetized, rapidly spinning neutron star—within a rapidly bright supernova, SN 2024afav. Analysis of the 200‑day light curve revealed four chirps caused by a wobbling accretion disk around the newborn magnetar, with general relativity’s frame‑dragging explaining the timing. The magnetar spins about 238 times per second and possesses a magnetic field hundreds of trillions of times stronger than Earth's, providing definitive evidence for the magnetar–superluminous supernova connection.