Astronomers Use Rare Ultra-Magnetic Star to Crack a Quantum Mystery

August 23, 2026 Universe Today

Astronomers Use Rare Ultra-Magnetic Star to Crack a Quantum Mystery
By Matthew Williams (https://ift.tt/Mc4YIwQ)

A Swinburne astronomer may have just confirmed one of the quirkiest aspects of quantum mechanics: that seemingly empty space can alter the behavior of light. Credit: NASA.

An international team observed a magnetar known as 1E 1547.0–5408 using NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), leading to what could be the first detection of vacuum birefringence taking place in the magnetar’s ultra-strong magnetic field. These findings could potentially resolve a long-standing mystery quantum mechanics.

August 24, 2026 at 03:49AM
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