In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Taverna to delve into the mysterious world of magnetars—neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields. While magnetars are primarily observed at x-ray wavelengths, the precise mechanisms and geometry of the emitting regions have remained a puzzle.

Dr. Taverna discusses their ground-breaking research that has taken a novel approach to studying these celestial bodies: measuring the x-ray polarization of the magnetar 4U 0142+61. These measurements revealed a fascinating and complex picture. The polarization degree and angle both change as a function of x-ray energy, pointing towards two distinct emission regions.

The conversation dives into the preferred model where most of the x-rays are emitted by an equatorial band on the neutron star's surface. Some photons then undergo scattering to higher ene ...