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A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star. It results 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. Except for black holes, neutron stars are the smallest and densest known class of stellar objects. They have a radius on the order of 10 kilometers (6 mi) and a mass of about 1.4 M☉. Stars that collapse into neutron stars have a total mass of between 10 and 25 solar masses (M☉), or possibly more for those that are especially rich in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
Timeline of neutron stars, pulsars, supernovae, and white dwarfs
A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field (~109 to 1011 T, ~1013 to 1015 G). The magnetic-field decay powers the emission of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays.
X-ray binaries are a class of binary stars that are luminous in X-rays. The X-rays are produced by matter falling from one component, called the donor, to the other component, called the accretor, which is either a neutron star or black hole. The infalling matter releases gravitational potential energy, up to 30 percent of its rest mass, as X-rays. The lifetime and the mass-transfer rate in an X-ray binary depends on the evolutionary status of the donor star, the mass ratio between the stellar components, and their orbital separation.
Vulpecula is a faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for "little fox", although it is commonly known simply as the fox. It was identified in the seventeenth century, and is located in the middle of the Summer Triangle.
PSR B1620-26 b is an exoplanet located approximately 12,400 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius. It bears the unofficial nicknames "Methuselah" and "the Genesis planet" due to its extreme age. The planet is in a circumbinary orbit around the two stars of PSR B1620-26 and is the first circumbinary planet ever confirmed. It is also the first planet found in a globular cluster. The planet is one of the oldest known extrasolar planets, believed to be about 12.7 billion years old.
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.
47 Tucanae or 47 Tuc is a globular cluster located in the constellation Tucana. It is about 4.45 ± 0.01 kpc (15,000 ± 33 ly) from Earth, and 120 light years in diameter. 47 Tuc can be seen with the naked eye, with an apparent magnitude of 4.1. It appears about 44 arcminutes across including its far outreaches. Due to its far southern location, 18° from the south celestial pole, it was not catalogued by European astronomers until the 1750s, when the cluster was first identified by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille from South Africa.
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.
A millisecond pulsar (MSP) is a pulsar with a rotational period less than about 10 milliseconds. Millisecond pulsars have been detected in radio, X-ray, and gamma ray portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The leading hypothesis for the origin of millisecond pulsars is that they are old, rapidly rotating neutron stars that have been spun up or "recycled" through accretion of matter from a companion star in a close binary system. For this reason, millisecond pulsars are sometimes called recycled pulsars.
PSR J0737−3039 is the first known double pulsar. It consists of two neutron stars emitting electromagnetic waves in the radio wavelength in a relativistic binary system. The two pulsars are known as PSR J0737−3039A and PSR J0737−3039B. It was discovered in 2003 at Australia's Parkes Observatory by an international team led by the Italian radio astronomer Marta Burgay during a high-latitude pulsar survey.
The Hulse–Taylor pulsar is a binary star system composed of a neutron star and a pulsar which orbit around their common center of mass. It is the first binary pulsar ever discovered.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to astronomy:
A pulsar kick is the name of the phenomenon that often causes a neutron star to move with a different, usually substantially greater, velocity than its progenitor star. The cause of pulsar kicks is unknown, but many astrophysicists believe that it must be due to an asymmetry in the way a supernova explodes. If true, this would give information about the supernova mechanism.
A binary pulsar is a pulsar with a binary companion, often a white dwarf or neutron star. Binary pulsars are one of the few objects which allow physicists to test general relativity because of the strong gravitational fields in their vicinities. Although the binary companion to the pulsar is usually difficult or impossible to observe directly, its presence can be deduced from the timing of the pulses from the pulsar itself, which can be measured with extraordinary accuracy by radio telescopes.
The Vela Pulsar is a radio, optical, X-ray- and gamma-emitting pulsar associated with the Vela Supernova Remnant in the constellation of Vela. Its parent Type II supernova exploded approximately 11,000–12,300 years ago.
A radio-quiet neutron star is a neutron star that does not seem to emit radio emissions, but is still visible to Earth through electromagnetic radiation at other parts of the spectrum, particularly X-rays and gamma rays.
Vela X-1 is a pulsing, eclipsing high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) system, associated with the Uhuru source 4U 0900-40 and the supergiant star HD 77581. The X-ray emission of the neutron star is caused by the capture and accretion of matter from the stellar wind of the supergiant companion. Vela X-1 is the prototypical detached HMXB.
PSR B1257+12 C, alternatively designated PSR B1257+12 d and also named Phobetor, is a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting the pulsar Lich approximately 2,315 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Virgo. It was one of the first planets ever discovered outside the Solar System. It was discovered using the pulsar timing method, where the regular pulses of a pulsar are measured to determine if there is a planet causing variations in the data.
Astrophysical X-ray sources are astronomical objects with physical properties which result in the emission of X-rays.
References
- ↑ Heger, A.; Fryer, C. L.; Woosley, S. E.; Langer, N.; Hartmann, D. H. (2003). "How Massive Single Stars End Their Life". Astrophysical Journal . 591 (1): 288–300. arXiv: astro-ph/0212469 . Bibcode:2003ApJ...591..288H. doi:10.1086/375341. S2CID 59065632.
- 1 2 "Imagine the Universe!: Neutron Stars". National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Goddard Space Flight Center. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ Glendenning, Norman K. (2012). Compact Stars: Nuclear Physics, Particle Physics and General Relativity (illustrated ed.). Springer Science & Business Media. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4684-0491-3. Archived from the original on 2017-01-31. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
- ↑ "NASA's NICER Delivers Best-ever Pulsar Measurements, 1st Surface Map". 11 December 2019.
- ↑ Hester, Jeff; Scowen, Paul (30 May 1996). "The Crab Nebula From the Ground (left) and Its Interior With Pulsar". Hubblesite. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ "PSR B1509-58: A Young Pulsar Shows its Hand". Chandra X-Ray Observatory. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ "Pulsar Planets". Archived from the original on 2005-12-30.
- ↑ Backer, D. C.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Heiles, C.; Davis, M. M.; et al. (1982). "A millisecond pulsar". Nature. 300 (5893): 315–318. Bibcode:1982Natur.300..615B. doi:10.1038/300615a0. S2CID 4247734.
- ↑ "PSR J0952-0607 -- Pulsar". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ↑ Wall, Mike (25 October 2012). "Super-dense neutron star is fastest ever seen". Space.com. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- 1 2 Tillman, Nola Taylor (August 25, 2011). "Surprise! Alien Planet Made of Diamond Discovered". Space.com . Retrieved August 25, 2011.
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