Magnetar challenges stellar black hole theory

AFP: Magnetic mega-star challenges black hole theory
"The Westerlund star which eventually became the magnetar must have been
at least 40 times the mass of the Sun, according to the study, which
appears in the research journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

If so, intriguing questions are raised.

The mainstream assumption is that stars of between 10 and 25 solar
masses go on to form neutron stars. But those above 25 solar masses
produce black holes -- the light-gobbling gravitational monsters that
are formed when a massive, dying star collapses in on itself.

In that case, the magnetar's mother should have become a black hole
because it was so big.

But another alternative, say the authors, is that the star "slimmed" to
a lower mass, enabling it to become a neutron star."
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