Astronomers have discovered a new type of star described as a "magnetic monster" that will one day explode to become a rare "magnetic star." Using multiple telescopes around the world, including facilities from the European Southern Observatory (ESO), scientists observed the star named HD 45166, which is rich in helium and located about 3000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Monoceros.
This star, known as HD 45166 and located 3000 light-years away, had been observed for over 100 years. Astronomers were aware of its helium richness but could not fully explain its enigmatic nature.
Magnetic stars are a type of neutron star (the collapsed cores of some massive stars that pack nearly the mass of our Sun into a region the size of a city). They are extremely compressed and highly magnetic stellar remnants with some of the densest magnetic fields in the universe, violently ejecting bursts of energy.
