Speaker: Dr Anna Watts, University of Amsterdam

About this event

On December 26th 2004, an earthquake off the western coast of Sumatra triggered a deadly tsunami. The tremor was so violent that it left the Earth ringing for days afterwards, enabling seismologists to study the interior of our planet. Less than 48 hours later, the Earth was hit by the brightest burst of gamma-rays even recorded.

The cause?

A starquake on a neutron star with an ultra-intense magnetic field, 50,000 light-years from our solar system. Just as on Earth, the quake left the star ringing with seismic vibrations – the first time this had ever been observed. This has opened up a new way of studying these fascinating starts, with their crushing gravity, exotic nuclear physics and enormous magnetic fields.

The talk will discuss what we are learning from neutron starquakes, triggered by everything from magnetic flares to thermonuclear explosions, and outline what we hope to discovery with future observations using both electromagnetic and gravitational wave astronomy.