Astronomers have discovered a new type of astronomical object – massive magnetic helium stars – that could shed light on the origin of magnetars.

The discovery was possible because of observations of the mysterious HD 45166 star, which has been found to have an extraordinarily powerful magnetic field, stronger than that of any other star of its size that has been measured.

HD 45166 is located in a binary system about 3,000 light years away. It is a Wolf-Rayet or helium star because it has blown away its outer layers of hydrogen to reveal the underlying helium.

Scientists have long wondered about the particular qualities of this star. 

“This star was known to be weird for about 100 years,” said Tomer Shenar at the University of Amsterdam. “It didn’t make any sense – it really contradicted theories, so it deserved more scrutiny.”

The team has been able to make a new discovery about the nature of the star, based on a series of new observations made with...