Galaxy's brightest gamma-ray binary system may be powered by a magnetar

A team of researchers led by members of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) has analyzed previously collected data to infer the true nature of a compact object--found to be a rotating magnetar, a type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field--orbiting within LS 5039, the brightest gamma-ray binary system in the Galaxy.