Parkes finds unexpected 'heartbeats' in star

A US-Australian research team found that a “magnetar” – a kind of star with the strongest magnetic fields known in the Universe – is giving off extraordinary radio pulses, which links this rare type of star with the much more common “radio pulsars”.

The findings are be published in the journal Nature on 24 August, and are also being presented at the International Astronomical Union General Assembly taking place in Prague (14-25 August).

Added by Helen Sim on 2006-08-24