Magnetars : a type of neutron star

"Astronomers discovered a magnetar with the NASA's X-Ray Timing Explorer in July 2003, when it brightened by about 100 times its usual faint luminosity. They continued monitoring it regularly with the European Photon Imaging Camera, known as EPIC, on the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton Observatory until March 2006, when the object faded to its pre-outburst brightness.
As the magnetar faded, EPIC recorded changes in the energies of the X-rays released.
University of Arizona Astronomers Pinpoint Origin of Nature's Most Powerful Magnetic Bursts | UANews"
http://uanews.org/node/16013