there you are floating in space all around you
you can see the immensity of the universe stars of all ages nebulae planets and their moons
yet you are moving towards a specific direction as if pulled by an unseen force suddenly you realize
that you are headed right for a magnetar hang on a second a magnolia we're not talking about
a fictional character in the pokemon series welcome the fact nominal today we will discuss
what would happen to you if you went near the most magnetic object in the known universe a magnetar
a magnetar is one of the most magnificent inhabitants of our cosmos a special kind
of neutron star that not only is about 100 trillion times denser than the sun
but also sports a special gravity field over one billion times stronger than what our humble star
could muster and that's just in the case of the weakest known magnetar the main theory is
that these mesmerizing celestial objects come to existence much like any other neutron star
after a star of at least 1.4 solar masses reaches the end of its life cycle and collapses under the
force of its own gravity the result of such a catastrophic event usually ends with a supernova
which creates a wide variety of celestial bodies with a state of matter so dense that electrons
and protons bind to each other creating neutrons this is in all essence how neutron stars are born
these are entities made almost entirely of neutrons spinning extremely fast and with a
powerful magnetic field so powerful in fact that light is released at its poles these are called
pulsars but in extremely rare cases a magnetar is born sporting a magnetic field that makes pulsars
pale in comparison a much stronger magnetic field than a neutron star should mean that there was a
more massive point of origin so the theory is that while normal neutron stars are originated
by the collapse of stars in the range of 1.4 to 3 solar masses magnetars are the end product of
giants in the range of 10 to 25 solar masses that somehow avoid turning into a black hole
another popular theory is that the huge magnetic field of the magnetar does not come from the
entity of the star it originated from but from a simple oddity in the process of its collapse
when electrons and protons fuse together they release a neutrino a subatomic particle with
such little mass that it isn't bound by the gravity pole and is therefore ejected
but neutrinos carry energy with them which may form a convective flow able to amplify the
magnetic field of the star in a so-called dynamo effect in a nutshell the magnetar would be borne
out of a perfect combination of the measures of spin temperature and magnetic field unfortunately
this is pure speculation only 30 of these magnetic monsters have been identified and observed to date
as of today magnetars are still shrouded by a cloud of mystery what is less uncertain is
their effect on the universe their existence was theorized in 1992 about a decade after receiving
a friendly hint of their existence when a massive burst of gamma rays hit earth in our space probes
such gamma rays emissions are fairly common for magnetars given that one of their peculiarities
is the susceptibility to starquakes an equivalent of our own earthquakes that
happen when the magnetar surface cracks as a result of a starquake the magnetar
emits an extremely powerful gamma-rays flare traveling throughout the universe
now that we've made acquaintance with this magnetar fellow back to your situation you
are heading straight towards a magnetar so what's going to happen well remember that
magnetic resonance imaging you once got at the hospital a magnetar's magnetic field is roughly
10 billion times stronger than the magnetic field of these mris your body would first
of all be liquefied and spaghettified by the sheer power of the gravity-induced acceleration
ending your journey in the blink of an eye but what if you were wearing a special set of personal
protective equipment and somehow survive that and the irradiation of x and gamma rays then you'd
be able to pull out your wallet as you approach the distance of about twenty thousand kilometers
from the magnetar and curse as you notice that your credit cards have all been demagnetized
by the powerful field you'd observe how you get closer and closer approaching the speed of light
and your nervous system fails due to the immense gravity while the atoms in your body get stretched
into the shape of a cigar under the influence of the magnetic field in fact the magnetic field is
so powerful that your bioelectric field would fall apart and your body with it simply disintegrating
once again let's assume that you'd somehow survive that's staying in one piece and move forth to the
last part of the approach to the magnetar the impact at 150 000 kilometers per second or more
the impact energy would be over 9 billion newtons enough to ridicule any nuke we earthlings possess
would you destroy the magnetar part of it or at least destabilize it a little
don't you worry your dimensions and density are those of a mere human your new friend would be
safe what would be undergoing drastic changes in your body the impact would be so strong that
it would be shattered absolutely pulverized with its atoms mostly turning into a mass of neutrons
meaning that now you'd be part of the magnetar which you have to admit is pretty dang cool
but for the sake of speculation let's assume once again that you survived the impact and
that you were somehow able to walk on this deadly yet gorgeous star and explore it what would you
see certainly something unique a neutron star is a massive swirling energy with a crust and a nucleus
the luminous emission of a magnetar would be blinding up close pure white light all around you
putting on sunglasses you'd see how the atmosphere is made of plasma and barely reaches your waist
and while the upper part of your body is effectively in empty space under your feet
you'd be feeling some sort of frozen crystal-like matter iron mostly which would be the last element
forged in the core of the star the crust is indeed composed of iron but not in its normal state
the iron atoms are in fact at least partially ionized and should normally repel each other
what keeps them together is the enormous pressure and density packing them so tight
that their repulsion only serves the purpose of achieving an even distribution a crystalline grid
all of a sudden having analyzed the crust you acquire x-ray vision and can see below it the
iron crust makes way to a thin layer of different elements rich in neutrons with decaying electrons
with the nuclei becoming increasingly heavier and denser the deeper you look
and finally you see it a liquid nucleus made of pasta well that's how scientists describe it
nuclear pasta the repulsion of the leftover protons and electrons kept together by gravity
morphs the nuclei into a grid of small spheres than gnocchi thin cylinders the spaghetti flat
layers the lasagna and as a dessert an intricate grid waffles this irregular distribution of the
neutron star's mass may indicate how spinning neutron stars continuously generate gravitational
waves our instruments are not yet powerful enough to detect them but one day we'll have
an answer to this matter as well but be wary as hungry as this description might have made you
do not be tempted to grab some nuclear pasta and eat it according to some estimates it may
be about 10 billion times stronger than steel nor should you be tempted to bring some back to earth
without the immense pressure to keep it stable it would give way to a powerful explosion
so what now you have fallen into a magnetar and now you are all alone there the years go by and
you are still there immortal in your body and unbreakable in your mind all of a sudden
10 000 years pass and the magnetar has lost its magnetic field due to slow yet inevitable decay
you are then teleported back to earth you snap back to reality and realize
that you were just watching a video on youtube nothing to worry about
but the next time you look at the sky you can't help but think about magnetars
and feel a pleasant shiver while basking in the magnificent yet terrifying beauty of the universe
thank you all for watching i hope you have learned something new if you did be sure to subscribe to
the channel for more amazing content like this what do you think our next video should be about
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