Item 1 of 2 An artist's impression of a type of neutron star called a magnetar. Magnetars are the cosmic objects with the strongest magnetic fields ever measured in the universe. European Space Agency/Handout via REUTERSAn artist's impression of a type of neutron star called a magnetar. Magnetars are the cosmic objects with the strongest magnetic fields ever measured in the universe.
M82, nicknamed the "cigar galaxy" because when viewed edge-on it has an elongated and cigar-like shape, is 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles . The magnetar giant flare from the Large Magellanic Cloud was about 160,000 light-years from Earth.
Neutron stars are born in the explosion and collapse of stars eight to 25 times the mass of the sun at the end of their life cycle. They compress one or two times the sun's mass into a sphere only the size of a city. "We can say that magnetars are neutron stars powered by their own magnetic energy. This does not happen in ordinary neutron stars," Mereghetti said.