*It's a zone of virtual particles that's big enough to see from 400 light years away.
*I dunno what exactly gives with that, but I wouldn't advice trying to build a hotel there.
(…)
According to quantum electrodynamics (QED) - a quantum theory that describes how light and matter interact - it’s predicted that space is actually full of 'virtual particles' that pop in and out of existence and mess with the activity of light particles (photons) as they zip around the Universe.
These virtual particles aren’t like regular physical particles like electrons and photons, but are fluctuations in quantum fields that have similar properties to a regular particle - the big difference being that they can appear and vanish at any point in space and time.
In regular empty space, photons aren't affected by these virtual particles, and travel without interference.
But in the empty space near the incredibly intense magnetic field of a neutron star, these virtual particles are 'excited', and they have a dramatic effect on any photons passing through.
"According to QED, a highly magnetised vacuum behaves as a prism for the propagation of light, an effect known as vacuum birefringence," Mignani explains in a press release.
"This effect can be detected only in the presence of enormously strong magnetic fields, such as those around neutron stars," adds team member Roberto Turolla from the University of Padua in Italy…
