Hypothetical star

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A hypothetical star is a star, or type of star, that is speculated to exist but has yet to be definitively observed. Hypothetical types of stars have been conjectured to exist, have existed or will exist in the future universe.

Contents

Types

Scientifically speculated hypothetical types include:

TypeDescriptionCandidatesNotesRefs
Blitzar Pulsar with enough mass to suddenly collapse into a black hole when the rotation speed slows. [1]
Blue dwarf Conjectured to develop after a red dwarf has exhausted most of its hydrogen.The universe is not old enough for this form to come into existence.
Black dwarf The final state for a star, like the Sun, that is too small to become either a black hole or a neutron star. It would take a star like the Sun roughly a quadrillion years to reach this state, so none are believed to exist today.The universe is not old enough for this form to come into existence.
Black star A star predicted in semiclassical gravity which collapses into a black hole state but has neither a gravitational singularity nor an event horizon.none
Boson star A star or astronomical object made of bosons, such as photons or gluons, rather than conventional matter.none
Dark energy star A conjectured alternative to a black hole.none
Dark matter star Conjectured to have existed early in the universe. JADES-GS-z13-0, JADES-GS-z12-0, and JADES-GS-z11-0
Dark star A theoretical construct based on Newtonian gravitation, of a star with gravity so strong that even light cannot escape.This form cannot exist, as Newtonian gravitation breaks down under these conditions. It is a disproved hypothesis
Electroweak star A star where gravitational collapse is prevented by radiation pressure resulting from electroweak burning. In this type of star, quarks are converted to leptons via the electroweak interaction. The core of the star would be hand-sized, containing perhaps two earth masses, and might follow from the collapse of a quark star.none
Frozen star A very low-mass star with a surface temperature of only around 300 kelvins that could form in the far future, when the metallicity of the interstellar medium is higher than the current value.The universe is not old enough for this form to come into existence. [2]
Fuzzball A formulation of black holes in string theory.none
Gravastar An alternative to a black hole that denies the possibility of a singularity.none
Hyperon starA massive neutron star containing hyperons. PSR J0348+0432 [3] [4]
Iron star A final state for a star in the far future (101500 years) of the universe, when all matter is transmuted to iron via quantum tunneling.The universe is not old enough for this form to come into existence.
Magnetospheric eternally collapsing object A hypothetical alternative to black holes. Q0957+561
Planck star A star where the energy density is around the Planck density. The star will start to expand as soon as its density reaches the Planck constant. To the black hole, it expands instantly, but to the outside world, it takes eons to expand even the slightest.none
Population III star The very earliest stars, virtually free of metals, believed to have existed in the early universe when the only common elements were primordial hydrogen and helium.none
Preon star A star with a core composed of preons.none
Q star (grey hole)A compact, heavy neutron star with an exotic state of matter where most light does not escape the star. V404 Cygni [5]
Quark star Star composed of quark matter or strange matter. 3C 58, PSR B0943+10, XTE J1739-285
Quasi-star A conjectured star from the early universe with a black hole at its center.noneThe universe is too old for this object to come into existence.
Strange star A form of quark star, a neutron star with strange matter at its core, or star which is a ball of strange matter.none
Thorne–Żytkow object A red giant or red supergiant whose core is a neutron star. HV 11417
White hole The polar opposite of a black hole, it ejects matter from its core into space. It is hypothetically formed when a region around a black hole experiences a loss in entropy, and will immediately collapse when the entropy is restored. The loss of entropy allows the black hole to travel back in time, so it will continue to suck matter up into its event horizon, but once something goes into the event horizon of a white hole, space-time is so distorted that it will always lead you to outside the event horizon, even if you try to go to the singularity. GRB 060614

Specific stars

Specific hypothetical stars include:

StarDescriptionNotesRefs
Nemesis a star proposed as a companion to the Sun by Richard A. Muller in 1984
3 Cassiopeiae a star recorded by astronomer John Flamsteed, but never seen again
34 Tauri a star recorded by John Flamsteed later revealed to have been the planet Uranus

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neutron star</span> Collapsed core of a massive star

A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star, which had a total mass of between 10 and 25 solar masses (M), possibly more if the star was especially metal-rich. Except for black holes, neutron stars are the smallest and densest known class of stellar objects. Neutron stars have a radius on the order of 10 kilometers (6 mi) and a mass of about 1.4 M. They result from the supernova explosion of a massive star, combined with gravitational collapse, that compresses the core past white dwarf star density to that of atomic nuclei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black dwarf</span> Theoretical stellar remnant

A black dwarf is a theoretical stellar remnant, specifically a white dwarf that has cooled sufficiently to no longer emit significant heat or light. Because the time required for a white dwarf to reach this state is calculated to be longer than the current age of the universe, no black dwarfs are expected to exist in the universe at the present time. The temperature of the coolest white dwarfs is one observational limit on the universe's age.

In cosmology and physics, cold dark matter (CDM) is a hypothetical type of dark matter. According to the current standard model of cosmology, Lambda-CDM model, approximately 27% of the universe is dark matter and 68% is dark energy, with only a small fraction being the ordinary baryonic matter that composes stars, planets, and living organisms. Cold refers to the fact that the dark matter moves slowly compared to the speed of light, giving it a vanishing equation of state. Dark indicates that it interacts very weakly with ordinary matter and electromagnetic radiation. Proposed candidates for CDM include weakly interacting massive particles, primordial black holes, and axions.

A quark star is a hypothetical type of compact, exotic star, where extremely high core temperature and pressure have forced nuclear particles to form quark matter, a continuous state of matter consisting of free quarks.

In astronomy, the term compact object refers collectively to white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. It could also include exotic stars if such hypothetical, dense bodies are confirmed to exist. All compact objects have a high mass relative to their radius, giving them a very high density, compared to ordinary atomic matter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stellar population</span> Grouping of stars by similar metallicity

In 1944, Walter Baade categorized groups of stars within the Milky Way into stellar populations. In the abstract of the article by Baade, he recognizes that Jan Oort originally conceived this type of classification in 1926.

A strange star is a hypothetical compact astronomical object, a quark star made of strange quark matter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stellar black hole</span> Black hole formed by a collapsed star

A stellar black hole is a black hole formed by the gravitational collapse of a star. They have masses ranging from about 5 to several tens of solar masses. They are the remnants of supernova explosions, which may be observed as a type of gamma ray burst. These black holes are also referred to as collapsars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulsar</span> Highly magnetized, rapidly rotating neutron star

A pulsar is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. This radiation can be observed only when a beam of emission is pointing toward Earth, and is responsible for the pulsed appearance of emission. Neutron stars are very dense and have short, regular rotational periods. This produces a very precise interval between pulses that ranges from milliseconds to seconds for an individual pulsar. Pulsars are one of the candidates for the source of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.

An exotic star is a hypothetical compact star composed of exotic matter, and balanced against gravitational collapse by degeneracy pressure or other quantum properties.

The Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit is an upper bound to the mass of cold, non-rotating neutron stars, analogous to the Chandrasekhar limit for white dwarf stars. Stars more massive than the TOV limit collapse into a black hole. The original calculation in 1939, which neglected complications such as nuclear forces between neutrons, placed this limit at approximately 0.7 solar masses (M). Later, more refined analyses have resulted in larger values.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1851</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Columba

NGC 1851 is a relatively massive globular cluster located in the southern constellation of Columba. Astronomer John Dreyer described it as not very bright but very large, round, well resolved, and clearly consisting of stars. It is located 39.5 kilolight-years from the Sun, and 54.1 kilolight-years from the Galactic Center. The cluster is following a highly eccentric orbit through the galaxy, with an eccentricity of about 0.7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quasi-star</span> Hypothetical early-universe star with a black hole core

A quasi-star is a hypothetical type of extremely massive and luminous star that may have existed early in the history of the Universe. They are thought to live around 7-10 million years. Unlike modern stars, which are powered by nuclear fusion in their cores, a quasi-star's energy would come from material falling into a black hole at its core. Quasars emit massive amounts of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays. They were first proposed in the 1960s and have since provided valuable insights into the early universe, galaxy formation, and the behavior of black holes. Although they have not been observed, they are considered to be the largest possible stars in the universe.

In particle physics, hexaquarks, alternatively known as sexaquarks, are a large family of hypothetical particles, each particle consisting of six quarks or antiquarks of any flavours. Six constituent quarks in any of several combinations could yield a colour charge of zero; for example a hexaquark might contain either six quarks, resembling two baryons bound together, or three quarks and three antiquarks. Once formed, dibaryons are predicted to be fairly stable by the standards of particle physics.

PSR J1903+0327 is a millisecond pulsar in a highly eccentric binary orbit.

In astronomy, an iron star is a hypothetical type of compact star.

PSR J1614–2230 is a pulsar in a binary system with a white dwarf in the constellation Scorpius. It was discovered in 2006 with the Parkes telescope in a survey of unidentified gamma ray sources in the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope catalog. PSR J1614–2230 is a millisecond pulsar, a type of neutron star, that spins on its axis roughly 317 times per second, corresponding to a period of 3.15 milliseconds. Like all pulsars, it emits radiation in a beam, similar to a lighthouse. Emission from PSR J1614–2230 is observed as pulses at the spin period of PSR J1614–2230. The pulsed nature of its emission allows for the arrival of individual pulses to be timed. By measuring the arrival time of pulses, astronomers observed the delay of pulse arrivals from PSR J1614–2230 when it was passing behind its companion from the vantage point of Earth. By measuring this delay, known as the Shapiro delay, astronomers determined the mass of PSR J1614–2230 and its companion. The team performing the observations found that the mass of PSR J1614–2230 is 1.97 ± 0.04 M. This mass made PSR J1614–2230 the most massive known neutron star at the time of discovery, and rules out many neutron star equations of state that include exotic matter such as hyperons and kaon condensates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PSR J0348+0432</span> Pulsar–white dwarf binary system in Taurus constellation

PSR J0348+0432 is a pulsar–white dwarf binary system in the constellation Taurus. It was discovered in 2007 with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in a drift-scan survey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IGR J11014−6103</span> Nebula in the constellation Carina

IGR J11014−6103, also called the Lighthouse Nebula, is a pulsar wind nebula trailing the neutron star which has the longest relativistic jet observed in the Milky Way.

References

  1. ""Extremely short, sharp flash of radio waves from unknown source in the universe, caught as it was happening"". 2015-01-19.
  2. Beech, Martin (2019-03-28). Introducing the Stars: Formation, Structure and Evolution. Springer. p. 166. ISBN   9783030117047.
  3. Zhao, Xian-Feng (2017). "Can the massive neutron star PSR J0348+0432 be a hyperon star?". Acta Physica Polonica B. 48 (2): 171. arXiv: 1712.08870 . Bibcode:2017AcPPB..48..171Z. doi:10.5506/APhysPolB.48.171. ISSN   0587-4254. S2CID   119207371.
  4. Zhao, Xian-Feng (2017-12-23). "The hyperons in the massive neutron star PSR J0348+0432". Chinese Journal of Physics. 53 (4): 221–234. arXiv: 1712.08854 . doi:10.6122/CJP.20150601D.
  5. K. Brecher; "Gray Holes", American Astronomical Society, 182nd AAS Meeting, #55.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 25, p.89, May 1993, Bibcode : 1993AAS...182.5507B

Further reading