Neutron stars have very strong magnetic fields that are responsible for many of their striking
properties. The adjacent table gives some typical magnetic field strengths for objects of interest in
astronomy (a Gauss is a common unit of magnetic field strength). The entries marked "radio pulsars"
and "magnetars" are associated with particular kinds of neutron stars. Clearly, neutron stars lead to the
largest magnetic fields observed in nature.
The following diagram illustrates the magnetic field of a rapidly spinning neutron star.
We shall have more to say about this field when we discuss pulsars in the next module.