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>> An international team of scientists,
including researchers from the UCL Mullard Space Science
Laboratory, have identified a second member
of a rare breed of neutron star.
Neutron stars are the dead cores of massive stars
that have collapsed in on themselves, after burning
up all their fuel, and exploding as dramatic supernovas.
There are several subtypes,
and this newly discovered hybrid features the qualities
of a magnetar and a pulsar.
Magnetars emit bright x-rays,
and have the most intense magnetic fields known
in the universe.
Pulsars, with much lower magnetic fields,
pulse radio waves as they rotate rapidly.
This recently discovered hybrid star appears
to have a spinning stellar skeleton, like that of a pulsar,
while also hiding an intense internal magnetic field,
like that of a magnatar.
The new hybrid star will help the team to understand more
about the interior of neutron stars.