Artwork illustrating a fast-radio burst. Magnetars are types of neutron stars that have exceedingly powerful magnetic fields, trillions of times stronger than Earth's own field and even more powerful than regular neutron stars. Recently, astronomers have suggested that asteroids might be orbiting some of these objects, leading to the emission of fast-radio bursts (FRBs). The idea is that asteroids orbiting within the magnetar's wind - a stream of fast particles emitted from its surface - carve a wake in the wind, leading to the generation of an electric current around the wake. When the magnetar's wind crosses the wake, a magnetic disturbance is created which generates an extremely intense, narrow beam of radio energy. In 2020, astronomers detected the first FRB from a magnetar - called SGR 1935+2154 - located within our own galaxy. The entire event was over in a fraction of a second.