kaya'08
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The discovery of a rare magnetic star - or magnetar - is challenging theories about the origin of black holes.
Magnetars are a special type of neutron star with a powerful magnetic field.
They are formed by gravitational collapse after the original, or progenitor star, dies and forms a catastrophic supernova.
For this newly discovered magnetar, astronomers calculated that the mass of the progenitor must have been at least 40 times greater than that of our Sun.
Collapsing stars of this size should form a black hole. The fact that this one resulted in a neutron star, challenges established theory.
BBC News - Black hole mystery unveiled by magnetic star discovery
Very interesting, but i was wondering. There are so many billions of stars out there, how many of those are of gigantic proportions? Billions, i assume. If they ALL formed black holes when they collapse, would this universe be habitable even in the slightest?