A scientific article, of which Ersin Göğüş, member of Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences is one of the corresponding authors, was published in Nature journal on December 22, 2021. Collaborating with researchers from University of Bergen (Norway), Ersin Göğüş said the following about his article that was published: “High-frequency oscillations in the main peak of a magnetar giant flare are observed for the first time. These extremely high-frequency oscillations in the burst peak are a crucial component that will aid our understanding of magnetar giant flares”.
Covering the very-high-frequency oscillations, the article is further described below.
The Most Fascinating Show of a Far Magnetar
High-energy photons from a giant flare were detected by ASIM (Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor) instruments aboard the International Space Station on April 15, 2020 after covering a long distance in the deep space. It was found that the source of this giant flare was a neutron star with a strong magnetic field in NGC 253 galaxy, which is approximately 12 million light years[1] away from us. Findings obtained through ASIM can shed light on studies in this field.
Neutron stars are structures with matters that are the most intensive and still observable. A tablespoonful of neutron star placed on Earth's surface would weigh as much as Mount Everest. Neutron stars with the strongest magnetic fields are called magnetars. Being more than a trillion times stronger than the magnetic field of the sun, these magnetic fields result in magnetar giant flares. Oscillations in the main peak of a magnetar giant flare are of very high-frequency, to such extent that they even paralyze[2] high-performance, new generation observation instruments.
Built with the support of ESA (European Space Agency) to observe gamma-ray flares close to the earth and operating aboard the International Space Station, ASIM is capable of recording very-high-frequency gamma-rays. Results obtained from the data collected with ASIM on April 20, 2020 are a breakthrough about magnetar giant flares: Very high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations are detected for the first time in the main peak of a magnetar giant flare.
High-frequency oscillations from very energetic flares are considered to result from interactions in the very strong magnetic field of a neutron star. Starquakes that can happen in neutron stars with the impact of magnetic pressure are also considered to play a role in the oscillations that are observed.