Ep. 785: Magnetars

Astronomy Cast

Natural Sciences, Science, Astronomy

4.8 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 9 March 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Astronomy Cast Ep. 785: Magnetars By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live March 6, 2026. Magnetars are a special type of neutron star with physics that defy comprehension. Magnetic fields so powerful they could strip you apart at an atomic level. But, where do they come from? So many mysteries to uncover about magnetars. Back in December 2004, a gamma rays washed out cameras and zotted satellites as a star on the other side of the Milky Way shifted around its magnetic fields. Magnetars are violent that way. In this episode of Astronomy Cast, Fraser and Pamela take on this tiny terrible monsters. This show is supported through people like you on Patreon.com/AstronomyCast In this episode, we'd like to thank: Burry Gowen, Eric Lee, Jeanette Wink, Michael Purcell, Andrew Poelstra, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Joe McTee, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler, Sergio Sancevero

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm
0:02.0	Oh
0:03.0	Oh Thank you. I'm Astronomycast, Episode 785 Magnetars. Welcome to AstronomyCaster, weekly facts-based journey through
0:56.3	the cosmos where we help you understand not only what we know, but how we know what we know.
0:59.9	I'm Fraser Kane. I'm the publisher of the universe today with me, as always is Dr. Pamela Gay,
1:03.2	a senior scientist for the Planetary Science Institute and the director of CosmoQuist. Hey, Pamela,
1:08.4	how you doing? I am doing well. I've had the weirdest two weeks, and I caught COVID for the first time.
1:17.8	Oh, no. How are you doing? I, I'm still snuffly, and I'm not convinced it isn't allergies,
1:24.5	because I've been snuffly for a month and I haven't had COVID.
1:29.9	I did test positive for COVID. Yeah.
1:30.2	That's, you know, you could be like not experiencing much of the disease and also enjoying
1:37.5	allergies.
1:38.2	So, yeah, don't do much stock in that.
1:40.0	I think that is indeed what happened.
1:42.2	And yeah, there were six of us at a little tiny event that everyone
1:45.5	tested before they arrived, but the current version of COVID has a two-day incubation period.
1:51.7	So yeah, on Wednesday, having all gotten together on Sunday, six of us tested. Yeah. So it was a thing.
2:03.7	It was a thing.
2:04.4	So thank you, everyone, for your patience, for your well wishes, for putting up with my
2:08.6	fever dreams posted to the internet.
2:11.2	But I have a question for you.
2:13.8	Okay.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Astronomy Cast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Astronomy Cast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.