As Wolszczan, Marcy, Butler and others continue their search for new planets, other astronomers have found evidence of the most powerful magnetic field ever seen in the universe. They found it by observing the "afterglow" of subatomic particles ejected from a magnetar. This neutron star has a magnetic field billions of times stronger than any on Earth and 100 times stronger than any other previously known in the universe. A scientist's computer rendering depicts how a magnetar might appear.

Image by: Dr. Robert Mallozzi, University of Alabama at Huntsville/NASA