neutron stars - stony brook university · neutron stars-put very simply, a neutron star is the core...

NeutronStars

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY NASA/ANDREW FRUCHTER (STSCI)PH

Neutron Stars-

Put very simply, a neutron star is the core of a large star that has collapsed, specifically having pre-supernova mass of about 10-29 solar masses. To small and it’s a white dwarf, too much and it’s a black hole. But it’s a little more complicated….

Solar Masses

Neutron stars are formed by supernovas, which presses the iron core of a star so tight that it becomes an almost all neutron substance as the protons and neutrons fuse together.

When pressed tightly, the recoil from the repulsive forces of the nuclei cause a sort of “bounce”, or shockwave that expels the outer layers of the star, along with a whole lot of neutrinos

Neutron star at the heart of the crab nebulahttp://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1614a/NASA, ESA

Supernova are usually only the size of a city

Artists size comparison of a neutron star to Vancouver. Original Photo Credit goes to a now defunct kindaroomy.com.

Binary systems

A neutron star will often become a thief of hot gas from its neighboring star, causing it to accrete mass, and possibly turn into a black hole

X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison/S. Heinz, et al.; Optical: DSS

Pulsars

Radiation from the pulsar PSR B1509-58

NASA/CXC/SAO (X-Ray); NASA/JPL-Caltech (Infrared)

Since nuclear fusion is no longer possible, the neutron star has no new source of internal energy generation. With time, its rotation should slow and its magnetic field should decrease. Unless the neutron is "spun-up", it will eventually become "invisible".

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A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star or white dwarf, that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation.We can only really observe tis when the beam sweeps across the earth, known as the lighthouse effect.

Corvin Zahn, Physics education group Kraus, Theoretische Astrophysik Tübingen,Tempolimit Lichtgeschwindigkeit

Depending on how much more condensed the star is compared to its Schwarzschild radius, you may actually be able to see around the neutron star while viewing from a single point in space!

KilonovaA kilonova is the colliding of two neutron stars, creating not only intense gravitational waves, but nucleosynthesis.

This image right here is a directly imaged kilonova, located in the bright bubble that is NGC-4993, the first ever detected and confirmed.

Nucleosynthesis

based on data by Jennifer Johnson at Ohio State University

ResearchOngoing Research By Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Fermi Telescope provide insight into the future of neutron stars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolman%E2%80%93Oppenheimer%E2%80%93Volkoff_limit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenerate_matter

https://www.astro.umd.edu/resources/introastro/degenerate.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar

https://www.livescience.com/57614-is-there-an-element-zero.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzschild_radius

https://thevarsity.ca/2017/10/29/the-aftermath-of-a-neutron-star-collision/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neutronstar_2Rs.svg

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/science/neutron_stars.html

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-nearby-neutron-star-collision-could-cause-calamity-on-earth/?sf125140326=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nucleosynthesis_periodic_table.svg

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/neutron-stars/

https://futurism.com/neutron-stars-big-things-in-small-packages/

https://www.space.com/22180-neutron-stars.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleosynthesishttp://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/neutron_star.htmhttps://www.wired.com/story/space-photos-of-the-week-130-million-light-years-away-two-neutron-stars-collide/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/neutron-stars/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star