Scientists usingNASA’s IXPE conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E 1547-5408, shown in this Aug. 5, 2026, artist’s concept, between March and April 2025.
In doing so, theymay have captured empty space behaving in a way physicists have predicted for 90 years, but never directly observed.
Magnetars are a special class of neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields, the strongest of any object in the observable universe, around a trillion times stronger than the strongest permanent magnets ever built on Earth.
Image credit: NASA/Pablo Garcia